Down but not out.

While thinking about this week's blog, a couple things came to mind as a title, but I am not sure everyone remembers them. The first, the great call by Howard Cossell when then Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier got knocked down by challenger George Foreman......"Down Goes Frazier, Down Goes Frazier".  It was a classic call and of course, Joe got up, being the champion he was, and continued to fight on.

The second was one of my all time favorite movies "Down And Out In Beverly Hills", where Nick Nolte plays a homeless man down on his luck who tries to drown himself in the pool of some prominent folks. They rescue him and his life takes a turn for the much better, and it is quite hilarious as he makes a comeback.  Both of these situations remind me that life may take us down sometimes, but God gives us the strength to bounce right back up.

I was sick with that crud going around this weekend, not surprising after high winds in Tampa with a wind chill of 15 there last week and rain, cold and fog in Daphne the past few days. On Tuesday I was wearing shorts in Orlando, and by Thursday I had four layers on. My body took a hit and I paid for it. No problem, it is part of the trade, but what was different this time was that I was sick in a strange place, away from home, and thoughts of "Mama" kept going through my head as I ate a ton of chicken noodle soup.

When we are down for whatever reason, we tend to draw on our past to lift ourselves up and out of it. If our past did not include God, it may be difficult to let him help us because we have become so independent.  But I have learned something valuable- if we continually rely on our own resources to bring us up and out, eventually we are going to get knocked out. With God's guidance we never get knocked out; we only experience a temporary setback.

Yes, maybe I was a little wimpy this weekend, I think the tendency when we get sick is to feel sorry for ourselves. But, it's only a temporary setback, I was down but not out! 
 
And I hope you remember that nothing is impossible for God, no matter what has gotten you down or taken you out, he has an answer. After all, he was the one  provided the chicken soup.


Glenn