I couldn't breathe anymore.
My hips were pinned to the ground and my skull was pressed between the floor and this man’s enormous chest.
He had a hold of my left wrist, while with my right I was helplessly trying to push him off of me.
I was hopeless. Frustrated. Desperate.
I felt like an eight-year-old boy at the mercy of the playground bully.
Then I felt a weird twisting motion—my shoulder moving in a direction God never intended it to move.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
Tap out. Again…
Fortunately for me, the viking with superhuman strength overpowering me was my good friend Sean.
He helped me up, offered me his wide and playful smile, extended his hand and waited for me to slap it and give him a fist-pump—the unmistakable sign of the start of a new round.
“Sigh… Alright, here we go again”.
It was Tuesday night and I was at my buddy Brian’s basement, where for the past few months, my brothers and I had been spending a good part of our men’s gathering “on the mat”, practicing Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu and other martial arts.
Because as Sean says:
““The man who shows up on the mat is the man who shows up in life.””
In last week’s article, I suggested that we are Forged By God In the Fire of Adversity.
But not only does God want to initiate us through adversity—he wants to prepare us for it.
And if we accept his invitation and consent to his training, when adversity shows up, we will then have become the kind of men who are ready to face it, and in union with him, overcome it.
You may remember the famous story of David—the young Shepherd.
At the time of war against the Philistines, his father asks him to go check on his older brothers who are on the frontline, and bring them food.
When he shows up, he suddenly hears the roaring voice of a giant Philistine named Goliath, who has been threatening and mocking the entire army of Israel for forty days.
Hello Trouble…
Everyone in the Israeli army, from the lowest ranked soldier to the King himself, has so far chickened out and avoided the threat.
But listen to the words that David speaks to Saul, the King:
““Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.””
There is no hesitation. When adversity shows up, he is ready for it.
At this point in his young life, David has already become the kind of man who is ready to face any challenge that life may throw at him.
And this is why—because he has been trained for it.
While David was out in the fields taking care of his sheep, God was leading him through a journey of initiation, preparing him for the adversity that would soon come.
Take a look at what David says to King Saul, as he’s trying to convince him to let him fight the giant:
““…Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine...” ”
Imagine the first time that a lion attacked one of his sheep. How do you think he reacted?
I imagine him jolting and feeling a surge of adrenaline flooding his body—his senses sharpening in sheer panic.
I can see him taking one or two steps back while repeating in his heart: “God, God, God”…
But then, I imagine him taking a deep breath, while remembering the stories he had heard time and time again about God delivering his people throughout history.
I picture him experiencing the inner-strengthening of the Spirit—God’s voice in his heart reminding him:
“Trust me, David. You have what it takes. Go after the lion. Fight it. I will deliver you.”
I can feel his newly found strength—his willingness to risk it all in trusting God.
And I can imagine the smile on his face when the lion was dead at his feet—his sense of awe in God’s power and faithfulness.
Can you imagine the satisfaction David must have felt in knowing in his heart that he had what it takes?
That with God on his side he could face and overcome such a threat?
Well, without this season of initiation with the lion and the bear, David would not have built this confidence.
And he may not have been able to trust God when adversity showed up in the form of a 9-foot giant.
For my part, today I’m glad that I haven’t had to fight a lion or a bear.
And I thank God that my friend Sean is not quite 9 feet told—although it feels like he is when I’m fighting him.
But most of all, I am grateful to God for all that he has done in me and in my brothers, as week by week we chose to step onto the mat, face our fears and discomforts, and let him train us for adversity.
What about you?
What are your lions and your bears in this season?
I want to close today by offering two invitations:
Hello Trouble
A decade ago, my friend Morgan shared this 2-minute video with me and a group of wild men, during a holy gathering in the mountains of Colorado that God used to change my life.
I invite you to watch it and allow your soul to speak.
What do you feel in your heart as you watch it?
What may God be inviting you into in this season?
Enter Into Adversity
Would you be willing to choose to voluntarily enter into adversity, so that God may train you and initiate you?
Over the past 15 years, there are very practical ways God has invited and initiated me and some of my brothers in the category of facing adversity.
As I mentioned above, one of them is martial arts.
When entering the ring or stepping onto the mat to face an opponent, God will raise your fears and bring out the most vulnerable and raw parts of you.
It is a humbling and extremely rich experience.
A few years ago, a group of friends and I chose to run a Tough Mudder race.
Both the training and the race were unforgettable.
God used that experience to train us and initiate us into adversity, together, while having an incredible time.
And more recently, my friend JD introduced me to the dreadful practice of doing cold plunges.
Out there in the cold, immersed in freezing water before the sun comes out, God has been meeting me daily, teaching me to overcome mental barriers and reminding me that I can do hard things.
What about you?
How can you put yourself in a position to be trained to overcome adversity in this season?
What may God be inviting you into?
I pray that today you may hear his voice, and in union with him, step into adversity.
Much love,
—
Pablo