Who's in your corner?

Have you ever heard someone say, "That wasn't a fair fight"?  In terms of "fairness" they are looking at the two parties in the fight and seeing if they are "matched up" evenly.  When I was young, Dad liked to watch an occasional boxing match on TV.  There was always lots of talk about "heavyweight", "lightweight", "welterweight", and "featherweight".  The term described their overall weight - giving the boxer a "competitive class" ensured they were not pitting a man over 175 pounds with a man 130 pounds.  This was designed to give a man a "fighting chance" at winning.  Each of the fighters had someone in their "corner" who fulfilled the role of their "trainer".  This individual had the responsibility to keep track of how the other guy was throwing his punches and then alert the fighter how to counter those punches.


In life, it just isn't this easy, is it?  The "fights" just don't seem truly "fair".  Wouldn't it be nice to never have to fight in an "unfair fight"?  In terms of "fairness", we often feel outnumbered, outwitted, and outdone!  David had a little different perspective on how well we are "fitted" for the fight ahead:

^1-2 Blessed be God, my mountain, who trains me to fight fair and well.  He's the bedrock on which I stand, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight, the high crag where I run for dear life, while he lays my enemies low.  

(Psalm 144:1-2 The Message)

I think we often forget we have the best "trainer" of all in our corner!  We have been given the Holy Spirit as our "trainer" - preparing us for each and every swing the enemy will take in our lives.  We will do well to remember he teaches us to fight fair AND to fight well!  Just as the trainer in the corner of the ring, watching each swing, following the footwork, and adding up the sequences the other fighter is using, the Holy Spirit is "calculating" the preparation we need for each fight we enter into.

Sometimes we don't feel like doing a whole lot of "training".  We want to skim the Word of God, hoping something might just sink in.  We hope an hour in church each week will lift our spirits.  We turn on the worship music on the way to work hoping it will fill our minds with peace before the chaos begins.  Then, we wonder why the punches seem to be coming in such rapid succession and we seem to be unable to dodge them!

Look at the rest of the passage above.  He's the bedrock on which I stand.  The bedrock level is the lowest, most stable level of rock - simply because it is unbroken.  God provides foundation for our lives, but we have to stand upon what has been provided in order to realize the safety of the bedrock.  In other words, we cannot climb to the cliffs until we are sure about the bedrock below.  

He's the castle in which we live.  He is a place of shelter.  Yet, David uses the term "castle".  I don't know much about castles (there aren't many in my neighborhood), but they are big, have lots of room, and are really well-built places able to endure the changes of time.  This is our God - really big, able to endure the changes of time, and there is lots of room in his shelter for you and me!  David doesn't visit the castle - he lives there!  Casual relationship with our trainer will never yield the same results as living with him 24-hours a day, 7 days a week!

He is a rescuing knight.  Gals, have you ever wanted a knight in shining armor?  Guess what?  You have one!  Guys, have you ever wanted a man of valor as an example?  You have one!  His mission is to keep us out of the place of danger - but, knowing us like he does, he is there to rescue when we wander into stuff too much for us to handle!

Just some thoughts on "fighting fair" this morning!  It may not seem like a fair fight to our enemy, but God is in our corner!  When he is, no one and nothing can stand against him!  Listen to your trainer - he knows the fight ahead and has calculated the moves you must take to overcome!