I was inspired and captivated by the film Cinderella Man. It's the true story of James Braddock, a washed up boxer who came back to become a champion and inspiration during the Great Depression after being forced to retire from the ring after breaking his hand in his last fight. The grit and determination Braddock exhibited was incredible. Time and time again he put himself in the ring, only to be knocked around and even knocked out. But what I always found amazing was his ability to keep getting up no matter how hard the blows were.
For several years I felt much like a boxer in the ring - trying to dance around the punches that came my way. There were punches of medical crises that took my family and myself down for the count. I thought about getting out of the ring altogether and quitting the ministry because I was too depleted, too emotionally drained, and too distracted to be of use. But because of God's incredible grace and strength, He helped me get back up and keep fighting.
Sometimes the life of faith feels like a fight doesn't it? The apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of the faith." Circumstances enter our lives which threaten to take us down, that cause us to struggle. We wonder, "Where is God? How much more can I bear? How do I keep keeping on? Who am I to be in ministry when my life is spinning out of control?
The punches come at us from all sides sometimes and it can feel like we may never get up. One punch that is especially hard to take is discouragement. It can be a blow that often hits without warning. To continue through the fights, Braddock always kept his eye on the reason he was fighting - the economic survival of his family. That is what kept him getting up despite the pain, black eyes and swollen face, despite the temptation to give up. Likewise, we need to keep our eye on our goal - making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) and glorifying Christ regardless of our circumstances. Those things alone will give us reason to stay in the fight.
It reminds me of a missionary friend who was over for dinner some years ago. She had been contemplating getting out of the ring. She was discouraged, feeling ineffective, ready to throw in the towel. Then a Muslim woman who she and her husband had befriended shared something that reminded her of why she must stay in the ring. For years Sara* had been faithfully distributing Just Between Us magazine to women in her Muslim country and even laboriously translating articles into their native tongue so they could read them. Sara's friend began asking her questions about Christianity, so she gave her some back issues of Just Between Us that she gladly took home to read. Even though she loved the articles, she was afraid her husband would object to her reading Christian material, so she hid them in their bedroom closet.
Her husband had recently lost his job and had become depressed. While she was gone, he planned to kill himself. He wrote her a farewell letter, hung a rope in their bedroom, placed a stool underneath it, and fitted the noose. Suddenly, he felt compelled to look in the closet, where he found the magazines. The first article he read spoke directly to his situation. He read more articles, took the rope down, and called his wife. When she arrived home and saw him holding the magazines, she was filled with fear. But instead of berating her, he flooded her with questions about the message in the articles. She told him about her Christian friends and he asked "Do you think they would talk to me?" The result was a growing friendship and the opportunity to share Christ with this troubled man. Soon afterwards, both the husband and the wife became Christians - and to think Sara was thinking of getting out of the ring!
Despite the enemy's punches, Sara, like Braddock, exhibited amazing grit and determination, deciding to stay in the ring to keep fighting for what mattered most - and a Muslim couple was ushered into eternity because of her faithfulness. We may never know the impact of much of our ministry, or our obedience to God. But we are called to keep on keeping on. Galatians 6:9 reminds us, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Keep fighting the good fight!
*Name has been changed for safety reasons.
