Fight.

I was sitting at my kitchen table this morning, journaling about life, and my heart. Telling God all the yuck. How I felt like I couldn't do it, couldn't muster enough anything to keep going. How if I was to keep pressing on I needed to know He was there, would hear me, was listening, and would give me what I need. Telling Him how defeated and discouraged I was and how I didn't know what it would take to get me going again but I needed it. I read this verse:

"Those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31

...and I needed that, to soar, to run, to not be faint. And I thought about how easily we give up sometimes. That when things can't be done perfectly, instead of pressing, fighting the fight of faith and refusing to give up on God's goodness, we stare at the challenge and whine (I do). Often I think of the Christian's walk as one that looks easy, effortless, but it's never painted that way in the Bible. It's always painted as a war, a race, a challenge, a fight to the death. And we have what we need, but we must fight. Fight to believe. To always remember our hero will not be conquered...cause He won't.


And then this video popped in my head, of my friend Lyndsey. (click the words "this video" to watch) She just accomplished maybe one of the hardest things she's ever had to do physically, and it's such an amazing story of triumph...of choosing to move forward when everything in us screams "QUIT!" She just had this crazy workout to do in the competitive workouts she's started, it included rounds and rounds of things that would make you want to die and all along the one goal she had was to get to the end and get one "muscle up" (which is where you pull yourself up on the rings from a position of standing under it.) So she finished the workout with ten seconds left on the clock...ten, runs over to the rings and goes for it.

Having that image in my head inspired me to fight the same way, for belief that God is there, and will never leave or fail me. There I am, hanging on the rings, arms burning, everything in me screaming, "Give up!", "Let Go!", and I have a choice, to press up, or let go. The angels in the heavenly cheering just as loudly as those in the video around Lynds, saying "Go for it!", "Don't give up!" and with even more at stake, I choose to fight again.

What about you? The next time there are ten seconds left on the clock and the odds are stacked against you will you press up to victory with muscles aching and exhausted, or will you stand under the rings defeated, while the angels cheer for your hero to be recognized? I'll never forget this.

". . . be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." [Revelations 2:10]