Those of you that have been reading these long enough, or follow me long enough, know that I am a sports fan. No secret. UFC included. In UFC 292, the fight of the night was between Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling. It was for the Bantamweight Championship. Aljamain was considered one of the greatest ever at that weight. He held the belt going into the octagon. I didn’t get to watch the fight. But I saw highlights. O’Malley defeated Sterling with a TKO in the second round. O’Malley sent him to the mat after landing a right hand. It was perfectly placed on his chin.
In the highlights, the video of the punch is what caught my attention. Right before it connected, Sterling had missed a punch of his own. And he could see what was coming from O’Malley. In the last fraction of a second before he got hit, he was closing his eyes and grimacing. Almost as if he was thinking this is not going to be good. He didn’t see it coming until it was too late. And within a few seconds after that, the match was over. Just like that. He was no longer champion. O’Malley had taken the belt away.
Isn’t life like that sometimes. One moment we feel like we are on top of the world. One moment we feel like we are champions. That nothing can stop us. And then, the next, before we know it, we have been beaten down. We have lost what we had worked so hard for. And it happens so quickly. And there are times that we can actually see it getting ready to take place. But there is nothing that we can do about it. Our defense is down. But it’s reality. It could happen to any of us. At any time. Those of you that read these regularly, you see that I say that is how Satan works sometimes. He strikes quickly. He strikes without us being ready. And he strikes with us seeing it happening at the very last moment, knowing that we are unable to stop it. Sterling lost last night. But he continued on. And that is similar to our fight with Satan. We may lose sometimes. We may take it on the chin. But we can continue on because we have a Lord and Savior. And he has already declared the ultimate victory for us. So today, let’s remember that no matter what comes our way, we are victorious in the end. Because Jesus paid the price.
