In the midst of all the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic most people have been at a boxing match; where Faith is in one corner and Fear is in the other. Every punch has them holding their breath, sitting on the edge of their seat and they are wavering on the brink of indecision.
We have to choose which corner we are hedging our bets on. Which corner are we cheering for? I have never seen an avid fan who wore both team's colors. In this battle, Faith is wearing white and Fear is wearing yellow. There always seems to be one fighter who talks louder, talks bigger and makes themselves out to be bad. If words could win the match they would take it in the first round.
In this match up, Fear is definitely the loud mouth. Fear is making all the wise cracks. Fear is calling Faith out, promising to eat Faith for dinner while spitting out his bones. Fear is proclaiming Faith has no hope of making it past the 3rd round. Fear is listing facts like they are gospel and there is no way around them.
Meanwhile, Faith is working his muscles, doing his routines, sparring and watching his opponent's moves. Faith is letting Fear have his moment in the spotlight and while he is aware of Fear's ability he is confident in his own. Faith is listening to the only voice that matters, his coach.
When we only listen to our coach, to Jesus, we stand on what we know. It doesn't matter what our opponent says or does. It doesn't matter what rhetoric he spews or how many facts he throws around. We have the assurance that Jesus is in our corner and no matter what or who our opponent is we will win. We are victorious when we draw on our past experiences, on the lessons we learned and mistakes we made in other fights. If we will just hold on to the foundation of our teachings, if we don't stumble, if we don't waver, if we keep reading and studying the word we score the winning knock out.
True faith will always win out against fear.
Picture is courtesy of Tampa Bay Times