One Round at a Time“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”PSALM 68:19I have to tell you, I am a huge Rocky fan. I love to watch the battling that goes on in those movies, not just in the ring, but in the life of the characters as a whole. I think in many cases, we can relate to the strug- gles that Rocky endured: the loss, the heartache, the confusion and betrayal. Of all of the movies, Rocky IV is my favorite, because in the midst of a battle that didn’t look possible for him to win, he continued moving forward with those he loved and was able to come out on top.In the movie “Creed”, there is a moment when Rocky is training Apol- lo’s Son, Adonis, where he reminds Adonis that all of the training is “one step at a time... one round at a time.”I thought about that today. Sometimes, the battles that we are engaged in are brutal. Sometimes they are overwhelming and painful. Some- times they knock as down so hard, we don’t feel as though we have the strength to get back up again. We want to stay down, throw in the towel and let the fight be over.Some of us are feeling like that right now. We are so afraid that we don’t know what to do! There is a story that I love in 1 Chronicles 11. There is a guy named Benaiah. Many people have no idea who Benaiah is. Today, we are going to learn a little bit about him, because he took every situationas one battle at a time. Benaiah was one of the great warriors for King David. He actually became the head of the body guard for King David. Remember, the King would have the very best soldiers protecting him at all times. He had a body guard protection unit of 30 men, and Benaiah was put in charge of that. You might wonder how he got to that point, because it is definitely a position that one doesn’t simply walk into.1 Chronicles 11: 22-24 tells us how he got there:“Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, per- formed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 23 And he struck down an Egyptian who was five cubits tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s rod in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 24 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty warriors.Three specific times, Benaiah was faced with overwhelming odds and was willing to trust that God had a greater plan and purpose for him. Each time, he had a decision to make. He could walk away and avoid the fight, or see the challenge as an opportunity for God to use him. Of the three fights, the one that struck me as the most impressive was the fight with a lion in a pit on a snowy day. We have no idea why he fought that lion, but all that we know is that he won.I have to say, if I see a Lion anywhere near me and it’s not in an encaged area, I am running the other way. There is no way I would fight a lion out in the open, much less in a pit on a snowy day. Benaiah was facing a 500lb animal that can run up to 35 miles an hour and hasrazor sharp claws. He was engaged in hand to paw combat with a force that would seem to be much faster and stronger than he was, and yet he prevailed. His actions would lead to his promotion to the head of David’s Body Guard, and eventually to him being named as the head of the army of Israel under King Solomon.And yet, I find myself asking one question—“What if he had avoided the hardship in front of him?”In the midst of all that we have going on today, let’s embrace hope in the face of destructive odds. Let’s trust that God has a great plan! Let’s not walk away from an overwhelming situation because we are afraid. Let’s noSupport the show

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