I get back up again.

The enemy likes to kick us when we're down. He pulverizes us until we are ready to quit, yet comes back with even more to fight with. He never seems to grow tired, and we are constantly battling him.

At the end of Karate Kid III, Daniel Larusso is fighting at the All-Valley Tournament against Mike Barnes of the Cobra Kai dojo. Mike is strong. He fights with power and force. He fights hard, and shows no mercy--the motto of the Cobra Kai dojo. While fighting in the final fight of the tournament, Mike attacks Daniel. He pounds Daniel with punch after punch, kick after kick. He uses both legal and illegal moves in the rule book of the Tournament. Daniel falls, but every time he gets back up. The match ends on a tie--0 to 0--and Daniel stays down. The sudden death round is next, like over time in a basketball game. Mr. Miyagi, Daniel's trainer, runs over and gets down on the floor next to him. He tells Daniel he must get up, and Daniel screams "I'm afraid! It's over! I want to go home!" Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel, "It is okay to lose to opponent, not okay to lose to fear!" And Daniel continues to scream that he is afraid. Mr. Miyagi silences him by telling him that his best karate is still inside. Mr. Miyagi gets up and walks back to his place in the audience. Daniel continues to lay on the ground. Mike, Daniel's opponent, gets down on the ground next to Daniel and taunts him. "You're nothing! You're worthless! Your teacher is worthless! Your karate isn't worth anything! You're nothing! He's nothing! Your karate's nothing!" Slowly, Daniel gets up and returns to his line. He turns to bow to his instructor, and then inhales deeply. When the call is made to fight, he starts doing a Kata exercise. The use of Kata in this fight is unusual, and Mike hesitates for a moment. He doesn't know what to do. Daniel calmly continues to do Kata. Mike's trainers are screaming from the sidelines for him to throw a punch and get a point, but Mike still hesitates. Daniel pulls back into a fighting position, and Mike does too. Mike lunges and Daniel grabs his arm, flipping him on his back. With a punch to the rib cage, Daniel wins a point and the match!

This reminded me of our walk with Christ. So many times we are discouraged. We battle constant negative thoughts that taunt us, "You're ugly. You're worthless. You'll never amount to anything. You should just give up while you're ahead. You can't do this. You're a failure." We reach our lowest point and can't see how we'll go on. The story usually ends there in tragedy. But there is hope! Christ comes to us and reminds us that we aren't finished! We have more left. We tell Him that we're afraid, and that we want to quit and return to our safe place, but he encourages us. He tells us that we may be knocked down, but He is there and He is our strength! We may not be able to keep fighting on our own, but we can keep fighting with Christ by our side.

Psalm 40:1-2; 12; 17

"I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm."

"For evils beyond number have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; they are more numerous than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed me."

"Since I am afflicted and needy, let the LORD be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God."

If you want a more inspiring visual, here is the video clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTIu_aWSf6M (there is a little bit of language at the part where Mike is down on the floor taunting Daniel).