The other day, one of my favorite pastors preached on wrestling. Yes, wrestling. Now, this is near and dear to my heart because I went to a private high school where wrestling ruled the school. All the big guys went to public school to play football for a shot at a college scholarship, leaving us with a football team as smaller than our marching band.
Our wrestling team took States back-to-back for decades. If you know the sport, you have to be the exact weight of that class. If you are wrestling at a certain weight class, you have to weigh precisely that weight. Except for the heavyweight division, you can tip the scales from 183 to 285. This brings me to the sermon.
The pastor’s son wrestles. At the most recent tournament, he sat in front of the mom of the heavyweight. Her son’s opponent had about a 100-pound advantage. As her son struggled to escape under the heft, the mom repeatedly yelled, “GET UP!” If you have ever attended a wrestling tournament, you know the decibel level rivals only a jet engine. The wrestlers sport headgear to protect their ears, muffling coaching cries and from the stands. But imagine he did hear her. Heavily outmatched, no doubt his thought would be, “Oh, “GET UP,” what a novel idea; I wish I had thought of that.”
Much to my extreme dismay, my son wrestled in middle and high school, all gangling 110 pounds of him. His middle school coach had a two-prong approach to the sport. He’d yell, “What are you doing?” and “Do something!” The second answers the first. They aren’t doing anything, but probably not by choice.
We are like the coach and the lady in the stands. We advise from the “School of the Bleeding Obvious” to loved ones struggling under a heavy weight. We are a Buck Up Bucko society. We tell people to “get over it” and “move on”; worse, we compare our burdens to theirs. All the while, they are dying for someone to come along and help them get on their feet.
People will disappoint us. God never will. He tells us, “Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.” (Hebrews 4:13-16 MSG)
Jesus gets us. He experienced excruciating pain. His people rejected him and even his disciples. On the cross, He felt emotionally and spiritually abandoned by God. Yet, he called out to the only one who could remove the heavy weight-His Father.
Maybe you battle chronic pain, depression, or rejection from family or friends. Jesus gets it. He’s been there, done that. He warned, “But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that, trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world, you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” (John 16:33 MSG) Great. We are GOING to have problems. But we won’t have to figure out how to “Do something!” ourselves. We have someone who will help us “GET UP!”
How do I know this? Jesus said it. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me, and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”(Matthew 11:28-30 MSG)
Stop listening to sideline coaches. Find people who share the love and support of God with you. Stop wrestling with problems too big for you to carry. Stop fighting that heavyweight who grossly outmatches you. Consider the words of the one who has already done that for you. Keep company with Jesus and learn to live freely and lightly.
IT'S A HARnDen LIFE... 