contending passionately

There was a show called the Contender a while ago. It was about young aspiring amateur boxers

fighting and contending for their shot at super stardom. I have noticed that often times I want things to be easy; to come easy. I have this image of myself as some honored king expecting everything to flow to me from servants on silver platters. But that is not how it is. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

The things that we most value in life, the things we want most, love most, cherish most, hold most dear are often the most difficult and mysterious to maintain, grow, and keep. If we were honest I would say that obtaining and possessing anything of value is just flat hard.

Let's take my wife for example. When we met in 1999 there was an energy, a euphoric love, a blissful and negligent emotion, passion, and drive. I had never met anyone like her, and no one compared to her. Twelve years later that passion is what has enabled me to contend for my marriage, my relationship, my family, and our love. I say contend because it has not come without a fight, struggle, or pain. And I will continue to contend because it matters and there is nothing valuable in this life that comes without contention.

Passion fuels my drive to contend. Passion fuels my energy to push forward. Passion empowers me to overcome hardship. Passion propels me forward in darkness and confusion. Passion overcomes logic, reason, probabilities, and laws. Passion. You can hid it, shove it away, stuff it, run from it, deny it, and abandon it, but it never ever goes away. No matter how brutal the force that contends against it, it is a raging life. It has no limits and will not be held at bay. It cannot be contained, bridled, tamed, or snuffed out. It is forever the force that enables us to WIN.

Passion's pilot light can never be snuffed out. There it flickers waiting for us to turn on the gas, to crank up the fuel, to give it life.

Contending means never giving up. It means persevering in value. It means understanding that I will get my head bashed in, my knees broken, and emotions ransacked. It means that there is a brutal force that comes as an army of Goliaths. It means that darkness will be thick, depressing, and unabated. It means that after I have taken my beating and the round is over I sit in my corner and listen to the voice of God saying never give up. Get out there and fight. Fight the good fight of faith.

Paul tells Timothy to fight the good fight (6:12). There is a good fight. There is a voice inside. There is a power that overcomes. There is a passion that will not die. There is a promise that will be claimed. There is a God that never fails, sitting in our corner, believing in us, contending for us.