He's got a mean left hook!

Jab right, dodge left. Shuffle your feet faster. If you don't block quicker, you'll get hit every time. He knows which way you're going next, so you have to outsmart him!

This boxing analogy may be all too familiar to beginning fighters. But, in our Christian walk, it is familiar, too.

-We are hit with jabs on all sides. 2 Corinthians 6:8-10
"...through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

-Sometimes our feet are followed, tripped, and planted by the enemy. Psalm 56:13
"For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life."

-If we are not in His word, we do not know when to block the enemy from our path. Matthew 16:23
"Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.'"

-Just like a fighter knows where the rookie will be moving next, Satan tries to outsmart you and plant you in places of deceit and wickedness. Walk with the Lord and outsmart the fox. Isaiah 55:9
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Beaten, Abused, and Mocked

Have you ever been verbally abused? For that matter, ever verbally beaten where you feel like you've been hit with left hook after left hook? What about mocking? Have you ever been mocked in a way that degraded you as a human being, took everything you've worked for and turning it upside down like you were a mere child and you didn't know what you were talking about?

Sometimes it is not you...it is your spouse or someone in your family...making you feel helpless.


Sometimes people in leadership positions feel as though their job is to nit-pick and make your life a place where you are miserable. That is when a person fills the position of a leader without knowing HOW to be a leader.

A true leader shows fault along with remedies for the fault. In other words, when you find fault:
--bring it up then (don't let it wait)
--show several ways in enhance the area of weakness (in a friendly environment)
--leave by encouraging ("You may be at fault now, but I know you are talented enough to make this little change and bring this back where you need it.")

Moreover, your reaction to fault will show your true faith in your Father.

Psalm 118:13 "I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. "

Do you think the Lord puts us in certain situations to get a faith temperature? At the times where we are knocked down, mocked, and beaten, know that God is there to help you. Rely on Him.

When going through trials, read Psalm 118 over and over and remember that our Lord was physically beaten, physically abused, and verbally mocked while upon the cross. He has gone through every situation (in some form) that we can experience. Depend on His Word for guidance and support.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20118&version=31