Giving Up

I used to wrestle and the one thing I remember most about it is the workouts and how hard coach made us practice. It isn't the matches I won that I remember, or even really the matches I lost (though I remember those much clearer than the ones I won). It's the hard work during practices that I remember. I don't really know why, but I think it's because those workouts were influential in who I am today. Well, it wasn't the workouts so much as the way coach made us push ourselves past where we thought we were as a wrestler. The only reason I was good at wrestling is because I was able to push myself beyond exhaustion... beyond what I thought were my limits.

I think this applies to us spiritually too. There scriptures often use the analogy of sports to apply to our spiritual lives. In Galatians 2:2, Paul says that he is running a race that is not in vain. In Hebrews 12:1, Paul says to set aside anything that holds you down and to run the race of endurance. In 1 Corinthians 9:26, Paul says that he runs with purpose and not in vain. In 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul says to fight the good fight. But in Ephesians 6:13, Paul says to stand. Not run or fight, just stand. How come the sudden switch from these seemingly active actions to a passive action? Paul is saying that at that point of exhaustion in your spiritual life, where you have done everything to stand firm in what you believe, just stand. We may think that this is naive of Paul to say that after you have done everything to stand. We may be frustrated when we read that Paul says when you feel like giving up and just falling down and quitting- just keep going. Does he not know how hard it is to have your beliefs attacked, or to have your life falling apart at the seams, or to be so exhausted to the point of not wanting to get up in the morning? Does he not know what it is like to be laid off, or hurt by someone you love, or to be addicted to something that you just can't quit? The only conclusion I could come to is that he did know all of this, you can see that by looking at his life, he lost everything for Christ, but what kept him going, what kept him standing wasn't what he knew but who he knew. The only thing that kept Paul in the race, that kept Paul standing up for Christ was Christ himself. And that is the only way you will be able to stand even in the midst of everything the enemy and life throws at you. Will you stand for the one who died for you?