Battle

by Joey Davis

It was early in the fight. This pugilistic fair was billed as the fight of the century. It pitted one of the greatest Hispanic fighters of all times, Roberto Duran, against one of the greatest American boxers of my lifetime, Sugar Ray Leonard.

The bell had rung, vicious blows had been exchanged, the fighters had returned to their comers, and during this brief break in the battle, one or the fighters began giving in to the enemy. When the bell rang for the next round to begin, Duran began a boxer's waltz around the ring with Leonard. Then, for no apparent reason, Duran dropped his gloves, started walking toward his comer, and said, "no mas, no mas!" (Spanish for: "no more, no more!")

The referee was stunned. Leonard looked bewildered and then jubilant after realizing that the victory would be awarded to him.

The fight was over because Duran's enemy had gotten the best of him.

You may think that Leonard was the enemy. He was not. You see, Leonard was only the opponent, the enemy lurked in the shadows of Duran's heart. . . a little voice that barraged him with the words "give up, quit, it's not worth it, you can't win, you aren't good enough!" Doubt turned into defeat.

When I was a young boy, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel wrote a song called "The Boxer." One line in the song is 'still with me today. . . "in the clearing stands a boxer, a fighter by his trade, and he carries the reminder of every glove that laid him out, or cut him 'til he cried out, in his anger and his shame, 'I am leaving, I am leaving,' but the fighter still remained."

When I think about perseverance, I think of this song. How the enemy is never in the opposing comer, but in the nether regions of our hearts. . . a dark voice that begs us to give up, give in, quit.

As Christians we are commissioned by God to do battle with the forces of Satan. Yet, Paul reminds us that the enemy is not flesh and blood, but the ruler of darkness. Too often, we examine others to find the dark prince, and forget to examine ourselves.

Sometimes it is difficult to discern the identity of our opponent. We would like to think it is a nameless, faceless opponent that we call "the world." Yet, sometimes the opponent has a friendlier face. But I warn you to keep an eye out for the deadliest opponent, the dark voice lurking in our hearts that says, "stop doing good, don't worry about righteousness, give up, quit, it's not worth it, you can't win, you aren't good enough." Don't allow doubt to fester into defeat. Jesus paid it all, and because of this we have already won.