Dog Fight
As a kid living in Alabama, we had this neighbor who owned two ferocious German Shepherds. All the children in the hood were fearful of those dogs. One day, from across the street, these shepherds locked in on my Siamese cat, Princess. They got all lathered up, jumped a chain-link fence, and with fangs bared, attacked my cat.
I watched in disbelief as Princess, who had been sprawled out in the sun on our porch, came to attention, arched her back, lifted up her razor-sharp claws, and simultaneously battled both dogs. Moving deftly from left to right, like an MMA fighter in the octagon, she sliced at the faces of the charging beasts. Within about 30 seconds the battle was over. The bloodied shepherds retreated, and Princess went back to sleep on the porch.
Mark Twain once said, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” I wonder if he was also talking about cats?
Lately, I’ve been asking myself, “how much fight is in you Steve?” We are living in perilous times. Times that test our resolve, test our confidence. This is the year of the shocker. We awake each morning in 2020 with some new shock before us—presidential impeachment, covid19, government shutdowns, and now, election fraud. We have to continually ask ourselves, how much fight is still in us?
The writer of the Book of Hebrews understood such times as he wrote, “Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance…if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:35-38) It appears, God’s not impressed with quitters.
At our church, The Road, we are not a fellowship of halfhearted people. During the presidential campaign and election season, we have had noonday prayer in our sanctuary for 52 days. We have had young people in our church from across the nation fasting and praying for 21 days leading up to the election. On Monday this week, in light of the mainstream media “calling” the election, we stopped everything and took a day of fasting and prayer. Hundreds of people came out.
As I hear prophets, prognosticators, and pastors apologizing for missing it—saying Trump would win—I’m appalled. Where’s the fight? Now is not the time to apologize, stumble, give up, or draw back. Now is the time to fight on in faith and prayer. I believe now is the time to push forward! Don’t cast away your confidence. Keep praying, keep believing. A little advice: Don’t look at social media; don’t watch Fox News, CNN, or any of those news outlets. Watch Jesus. Keep your eyes on Him. Ask God for His miracle-working power to show up!
“…Let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Still in the Fight,
Pastor Steve
