Blog: Max Dawson
August 22, 2016
Fifty years ago the great Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, commented on life and football. He noted that life is much like football. Eventually, everyone is going to get knocked down. But he added this: “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.”
It will happen to you, to me, to everyone. What do we do when this world knocks us down? When Satan assaults us and treats us like a punching bag, pummeling us without mercy? What do we do? We get up.
There was a great illustration of that this past week in the Olympics. It happened on Tuesday morning in the women’s 5,000 meter run. Nikki Hamblin, a distance runner from New Zealand fell as a result of a trip. American runner Abbey D’Agostino also fell to the ground as she tripped over Hamblin.
For a moment, Hamblin just laid there on the ground. Then she felt Abbey D’Agostino’s hand on her shoulder. “Get up, get up! We have to finish!” Agostino said to her. “This is the Olympic Games. We have to finish this.”
The two runners finished in the last two places in the race. However, because both were tripped, they were both advanced to the Friday finals. Hamblin told reporters, “I am so grateful to Abbey for helping me. That girl was the Olympic spirit right there. I am so impressed and inspired by that.”
Yes, it is true, Abbey D’Agostino had the right spirit.
None of us may ever compete in the 5,000 meter run in the Olympics, but we are runners nonetheless (). The writer said we must “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” What kind of spirit do you have as you run?
We don’t quit when we trip and fall. We don’t quit when we are knocked down.
“Get up! We have to finish.” We don’t quit.
THE FINAL WORD
The Apostle Paul knew what it was like to be knocked down. In he said he was afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down. But note very carefully in this text how he responded to each of those negative things.
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Afflicted–but not crushed. We will not be defeated!
Perplexed–but not driven to despair. The situation is not hopeless. We will be OK!
Persecuted–but not forsaken. God is always with His faithful people. He is with us!
Struck down–but not destroyed. Others may use us as a punching bag. They may knock us down. But nothing Satan can do can destroy us. We will be victorious!
“Get up! We have to finish!”
Blessings to you my fellow runners.
–Max