“Mismatch…” (by Mel McGuire)

 

During one of my favorite sermons, the pastor was talking about the need to settle things by playing the game, having the fight, or living out what could appear to be, on paper, a mismatch.

Anyone who is a fan of sports understands the idea of a mismatch…on paper. One side is heavily favored and usually rightfully so, but the competition must be held. Winners are not decided on paper; they must win in life, for real.

The boxing match pictured here actually took place, a real-life David and Goliath situation. And while I do not understand how this match was ever allowed to take place under the rules of boxing as I understand them…it looks like a mismatch to me.

On paper, one fighter is clearly bigger, stronger, and with a longer reach than the other. But what cannot be seen, on paper, is the size or type of heart that resides on the inside of each fighter.

In this case, the smaller man won. It was called a surprise knockout, but I suspect he and his corner were not surprised. Why fight if you have no intention of winning? Meanwhile others will only fight if they have no chance of losing. They like a mismatch.

On paper, many of us should not be where we are in life. Christ lives in us and He gives us the heart, the character, to defeat the Goliaths of our life. David fought one and won, that we know of. But I believe Goliath is not singular but plural and on purpose.

In the spirit, our destiny should be a mismatch. On paper, we should not win. But those battles, like sporting competitions, must be played out for real.

Paper champions have no place in the kingdom of God. Grace, favor, mercy, and even the anointed presence and manifested power of God cannot be measured on paper. He creates a mismatch.

On paper, according to God’s word, we are victorious, more than conquerors, overcomers, and royalty infused with the power of God. We are holy, precious, valuable, and valued by the King of Kings. On paper.

But too often we are living lives that are a mismatch. We have believed the enemy’s press clippings, fallen for the hype, and studied too much of his highlight reel, many of which feature him dominating our own lives.

There truly are more for us than against us, but WE must to be for us first! When God is fighting your battle, you are on the winning side of the mismatch. When we try to fight a spiritual battle with natural, earthly weapons, we often lose…and badly.

Get back to reading and believing what God has said about you. Who you are, whose you are. He gives you the advantage, that like on paper, creates the mismatch in your favor.

Fight the good fight. The battle is not yours. He won’t lose if you fight. It’s a mismatch!

“Clinch…” (by Mel McGuire)

During boxing matches, from time to time, the fighters will stop punching and use a tactic known as the “clinch”. This is basically a hug, that prevents or limits the ability to throw effective punches.

Boxers use this when they are tired, or when they are trying to break their opponent’s momentum. Since the point of the match is to fight, the referee usually will eventually step in and separate the fighters, so they can begin punching again.

But there are also times when the referee, for a couple of different reasons, will tell the fighters to “punch their way out” of a clinch. This means he will NOT break it up, or separate them, they have to fight their way clear.

When you are winning a fight, a clinch can be frustrating, for it calls for a different strategy than what was probably working for you. If you are not careful, fighting out of a clinch can give your opponent an easy shot at you.

From time to time in my spiritual battle, I have felt like I was in a clinch. I was still in a fight, but there seemed to be a lull in the action. To be honest, most of the time I felt I was so close to a sin habit or destructive lifestyle pattern, I needed the referee to come in and separate me from it.

God, being faithful, especially early in my walk, would show up and push me away, protecting me in the process. Then the fight would resume. And before I knew it, I was in another clinch.

Eventually God stays back…He is close, but He does not step in. I can hear Him, like a referee tells a fighter, “fight your way out”. He expects me to break the clinch myself…by punching my way clear.

Repetitive or habitual sins are usually the ones with which we battle and wind up in a clinch. Whether we are winning or losing, it does not matter it seems. We are in a clinch and we must fight our way out.

We must keep our spiritual guard up lest we take an unsuspecting close range shot, and allow the momentum of the battle to swing against us.

Even though we are tired of the fight, and would love to “rest in the clinch”, boxers know clinching takes a lot of energy, it’s just used differently that actively punching. So even though you are not punching, you are not resting either!

Fight the good fight. Stay active as you battle in the spirit. Resist the temptation to rest in a clinch. Keep punching, keep moving, stay aggressive. Doing so makes it hard to “tie up your hands” and makes a clinch less likely.

But if you do find yourself in a clinch, don’t wait for God to break you free…punch your way out, fight your way clear.

Our battle is in the spirit; our weapons are not carnal. Protect yourself at all times. Stick and move…and avoid the clinch.

“Winning… (by Mel McGuire)

In modern warfare, Rules of Engagement (ROE) often call for a new definition of “winning”. There are times however, when the obvious, old fashioned meaning still prevails. Fighting is NOT the same as winning.

My point is this; there is a difference between fighting and fighting to win. Most of us think we are fighting to win (otherwise why fight?), but are we really?

In a closely contested fight, the winner is often said to be the one who prepares the best. Prepares for what? To fight? Or to WIN?

If we look at the definitions of the words “fight” and “win” we see there is a huge difference. Basically, you can fight without winning, but you can’t win without a fight.

To fight means to engage in a contest or struggle, to merely participate. To win means your participation resulted in you conquering, overcoming, persuading, influencing or defeating your opponent. He fought, but you won.

For years, the Washington Generals “fought” against the Harlem Globetrotters in exhibition basketball. The Globetrotters almost always won. It was scripted. The Generals played, but they did not play to win. They competed, but they did not win.

At Pearl Harbor, the United States military was the victim of a surprise attack. The men and women there fought back, but they were not prepared and even though they fought, they did not win. On islands and shores across the world, later in the war, both sides prepared to fight.

One side was trying to defend their territory and the other side was trying to conquer that same territory. The territory went to those who were prepared to win, not just fight.

If you are not prepared, your fighting will be defensive. If you are prepared just to fight, you will be “trading punches” and holding your ground, inflicting about as much damage as you suffer.

Kind of like the old western movie bar fights, with two (or more) guys trading blows in a “my turn your turn” fashion, with no clear winner (until somebody picks up a stool or goes for a gun). That guy was the first to decide winning was the goal, not just participating.

Fighting to win means that you are prepared to take territory or you are preparing to dominate your opponent so that he cannot or will not continue or resume the fight.

Muhammed Ali in his prime would just humiliate his opponents. Beating them physically, mentally and emotionally so that they did not ever believe they could defeat him.

The spiritual war is a battle for the territory of your mind and soul. Are you prepared to win? Or just to fight?

As Christians, we must prepare for spiritual warfare as if we are preparing to win. We should be perfecting tactics to overcome our opponent’s weaknesses. Identify and develop strategies to strengthen or conceal our own weaknesses, and defend against specific attacks and strategies of the enemy.

Recognize that you are in a fight. How goes the battle, and what is the definition of victory?

Don’t just fight…fight to win!