Heal Beyond Brokenness 2.15.21

Heal: Beyond Brokenness Devotional Series – Week 2 –  Second Wind - Monday – Pastor Chris
Getting Back Up
Scripture Reading — Philippians 3:12-14 (NASB)
“Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

When I was a younger man, my favorite sport to play was Rugby. I played from grade school until my mid-20’s. Rugby became more than a game to me; it was a place where I learned powerful life skills. One of the life skills that I gained in those years was the ability to get back up. Rugby is a violent contact sport that requires no pads; it is muscle and bone crashing into each other for 80 minutes.

One particular game I remember with joy and pain is a game where I played against two men who were two levels above me in skill, ability, and size for the position we played. I was 19 years, barely weighing 190lbs, and these two guys were grown men built like a truck. I was a decent player, but these guys were just another level. I was playing them because they had been demoted from their 1st Team because of a training violation. Lucky me.

I can tell you I played my heart out that day under duress for the full 80 mins. I can also tell you I could barely walk, shower, and dress after the game. They battered me at one point so hard it knocked the wind right out of me. I lay there gasping for air, barely able to get to my knees, let alone stand up. However, I got back up and ran back into the game, and those two men respected that tenacity and fight, and as the one bloke said, laughing loudly, “I liked the second wind you got after we knocked the first one out of you.”

Sometimes life, and I have experienced these moments, brings us to our knees, spiritually, emotionally, and physically we have the wind knocked out of us. The Apostle Paul had the proverbial wind knocked out of him on many occasions, experiencing tremendous persecution and struggles for the cause of Christ. Yet, Paul writes,
 
“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Paul realized that in those moments when all seemed hopeless, times of suffering, and just deep sadness, Jesus always gave Him a second wind through the Holy Spirit. Paul honestly had tenacity, strength, and will to fight, because the Holy Spirit empowered Paul to “press on.” The same Holy Spirit is calling you today to “press on” and gain that second wind.