The Champion’s Anthem is what I call Apostle Paul’s description of hard times described in 2 Corinthians 4:7-10.
Here is my rendition of that–
“I am squeezed but not squished, still having hope–even at the end of my rope. I am still in the race, even if I am being chased, and I may be knocked down, but I’m not out.”
Squeezed but Not Squished:
1 Corinthians 10:13–we aren’t squished because He always gives us a way out. It may just be not subjecting yourself to someone else’s expectation that isn’t from God.
Jesus refused to do that even with his own family. He was doing what His Father told Him to do and his own family tried to interrupt it. How did he respond? He changed the definition of family–it became not those of blood, but those that fulfilled the will of the Father. (Matthew 12:46-50)
Hope at the End of Your Rope:
Abraham had Isaac lying on the altar. He was at the end of his rope. But, he believed God, and that God could even raise Isaac from the dead. He did not look at the natural circumstance, but the God that orchestrated the situation.
Hebrews 11 describes what Abraham walked out: “17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” Hebrews 11:17-19 NIV
What does it mean that “figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” It means that Abraham went all in. He was going to do it, and even at the end of His rope, He had hope that God would fulfill His promise.
Even though you can’t see the end, believe that God will fulfill His word. It will not return void, but fulfill its purpose for which God sent it forth. (Isaiah 55:11) Having hope at the end of my rope is recognizing that God does not have to make things come out the way that I want. We don’t get to dictate the means to His ends.
God gets to declare the end and orchestrate the means. Take heart. We would just distort what He intends for our good. Or, our suffering presently, could be allowing the good for another to come about–even if we don’t see it now.
I may be going through a heartache today because I need to have the resources to help someone else later. I have to be willing to give up however I think God is going to fulfill His promise. I don’t have to know how, and I for sure don’t want to lock into some way of how He should do it.
I do commit myself to Him who is faithful–even if I am at the end of my rope–I still have hope–for He is faithful.
Still in Race Even if Being Chased:
Ecclesiastes 9:4 says, “Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!”
What matters is that you are still in the hunt. If you are reading this today, then take heart, God still has a purpose!
Even if you feel like a “dog” instead of the “lion or lioness” you wish you were. It’s not about what you want life to be, it’s about reality.
If your reality is life, then take a breath. Look to Him who has gone before you, the Author and Finisher of your faith.
Soak this up?”1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
Let us run the race, not looking back at who is chasing us, but looking ahead–to Jesus! He went before us and we simply have to run the good race He has set before us to run. We are still in the race, even if trouble and hard times are chasing!
He is faithful. He spurs us ahead. He causes me to walk in my high places. Habakkuk 3:19 says, “The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.”
We are still in the race because He wants us to be. And, He is our strength. He makes our feet like the feet of deer and allows us to walk in places that we never could in our own strength.
Knocked Down but Not Out:
Proverbs 24:16 promises that the righteous falls seven times but rises again. It’s interesting that 7 is the number. Biblically, it is the number of God’s perfection.
You may wonder, why do I keep slipping when I am trying so hard not to? Because God is teaching you to walk on the heights of your hills. He is going to allow you to slip to teach you how to walk.
He does it incrementally. We wish we could download it all at once, but just like he drove out the inhabitants little by little in the Promised Land (Exodus 23:30), He will cause us to increase to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus has taken hold of me (Philippians 3:12).i
This is the Champion’s Anthem, described by the Apostle Paul. Let me run it back one more time from the top:
“I am squeezed but not squished, still having hope–even at the end of my rope. I am still in the race, even if I am being chased, and I may be knocked down, but I’m not out.”
Be encouraged today. And know this–Paul said all of this in the context of us having “this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)
So, we expect to be pressed. Don’t be surprised when you fall into fiery trials (1 Peter 4:12), but push into the pain. Not in your own strength, less you crack like a clay pot. No, allow the grace of God to be completed in your weakness: in the weakness you feel when being squeezed; in the vulnerability you feel when at the end of your rope; in the havoc you feel when being pursued by the enemy; and in the dust you feel on the ground around you when knocked down. Know that in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)
It’s because of His great mercies that we are not consumed. Remember Lamentations 3:22-24 below and may the Lord be your portion in the midst of your challenge and heartache–amen and amen.
“22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
i Exodus 23:29-30 says, “29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.” We may think we want all that God has for us, but the stakes are too high. Trust His hand as the potter shaping you incrementally, from glory to glory. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
