When I was a teenager back in the early 1980s (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) my high-school (shout out to Vancouver Christian Secondary School) had a Track and Field Day and one of the events was Tug of War.
Now for those of you who are not familiar with this game, let me give you a brief description of it. You have a long, thick rope with a Red Flag tied to the middle of it, which is positioned directly over a mark in the dirt, or in our case a paint mark on the grass.
Then you have two teams, of approximately equal weight, lined up on either side of the flag. Everyone grips the rope and when someone says "GO", everyone starts pulling. The team that wins is the one that can completely pull the rope onto their side.
I remember our teachers eyeing all of us and trying to make up the teams of equal weight and an equal amount of boys and girls on each side.
At the end of each rope there was the largest boy available. This person is known as the Anchor. I was positioned directly in front of our anchor.
Now, when I was in high school, I was already my full and glorious height of 5 feet 3 inches, and I weighed 110 lbs.
😟 Uh, okay. 115 lbs.
Okay, okay! 120 lbs. Can we PLEASE get back to my story. 🤨
Our principal, Mr. Van der Kamp, said,
"On your mark. Get set. PULL❗️"
I'll spare you all the details of us pulling (and grunting) but both teams were pretty equally matched, so for quite some time the Red Flag would move THIS way and then THAT way.
But at some point the other team gave a good YANK (no not the American kind 😉) and it threw our Anchor off balance and he let go of the rope, which means he was OUT of the game.
Suddenly I discovered that LITTLE ol' me was the new Anchor. 😳
My first thought was, "Well, this game is over." 🤷♀️ (Which was probably the same thing everyone watching was thinking).
But. you know, my second reaction was one of ANGER. 😡
I thought, "There is no way my team is losing! NO WAY❗️"
So I dug my little size 6 running shoes into the ground, braced my stumpy, little legs,
gripped the rope more tightly and started yelling,
in my tiny, sweet voice that sounds much like the gentle tinkle of a wind chime on a mild, breezy day 😊,
"PULL...PULL...PULL...PULL..."
and my entire team started pulling to my rhythm and working as ONE.
And we quickly won the game, even though we were down a man.
If you have never played Tug of War, I suggest you do, because you gain a lot of practical experience that I cannot adequately tell you here.
✝️💪
Christians are currently in a Tug of War against nothing less than the powers of evil "in this present darkness" (Ephesians 6:12) and the prize is nothing less than people's immortal souls.
We need to DIG in and start pulling in unison.
But, unlike in high school, when the only anchor my team had was an angry, Christian teenager with a bad attitude and a stubborn will (which is not bad thing ☝️), we have our Lord, Jesus Christ as our Anchor.
And because of that ...
WE...CANNOT...BE..MOVED! 🤨
"I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."
(Psalm 16:8)
BTW, Psalm 16 is the last Scriptures my Mom said to me before she died. I think she knew I was going to need it.
The Truth with Love,
Always Laura-Lee
Your extra, special treat for scrolling to the bottom (and patiently enduring my long story.) 😘
"(Oooh, Oooh, Oh) We Won't Be Shaken" by BUILDING 429 🎶
