Duck or Punch? Part One
Funny things happen on the school playground.
Back in 1st grade, there was a handful of boys who routinely liked to run into — as in crash into — girls on the playground and knock them down. I was one of their targets. Boys! Did they like their target (girl) but just didn’t know how to properly convey their affection, or were they purely acting ornery? All I remember is my frustration with their crashing antics during recess and my need to make them stop.
Therefore, I turned to my hero, my dad, for advice. Dad was a great storyteller, and I loved hearing him tell about his childhood shenanigans (Like knocking over neighbor’s outhouses, but that story doesn’t apply here.). Dad also had a few rivals growing up and, being athletic, he applied some heroic counteractions. Without realizing it, he was actually equipping me to outwit the rascals terrorizing the girls on my grade school playground.
How J.A. would’ve liked to dress in grade school
Through his stories, Dad taught me how to duck.
After working up my counter-defense operation in my head, I couldn’t wait for recess the next day. I positioned myself, standing alone between the big slide and the swing set, as the perfect bait. I put my back to the sun so that my shadow stretched in front of me. Then I waited . . .
Within seconds, one of those naughty rascals took the bait. I eagerly watched his shadow approach me from behind, running at full speed. A second before the intended collision, I ducked, dropping all the way to my knees with my head tucked. He tripped over me and fell face-first onto the gravel.
That maneuver ended the crashing antics on the playground for good.
The victor’s crown!
Do you have a few rascals in your life that you’d like to outwit today? I do. My enemies are still trying to knock me down, but my battle now takes place in the spirit realm, not against flesh and blood (2 Corinthians 10).
Just as my earthly dad trained me through his stories, our Father in Heaven has a personalized battle plan for each of us. Through His Word, He equips us to do spiritual warfare, and sometimes the only thing He instructs us to do is duck under His shadow while He turns the tables on our enemy.
“The Lord is famous for this: his justice will punish the wicked.
Psalm 9:16 (TPT) Emphasis added
While they are digging a pit for others, they are actually setting the terms for their own judgment. They will fall into their own pit.”
photo by Pixabay
So friend, if you’re in the midst of a battle right now, what is the Lord urging you to do? Have you asked Him? It might be time to simply duck, and let the enemy fall to his own demise and into the pit he intended for you.
You’ve got this, because He’s got you!
Father in Heaven, You are my Shade of Protection! You equip me for battle. You are my shield. When my enemy plots and connives to knock me down, show me how to duck and to leave room for Your wrath. For vengeance is not mine, but Yours, Lord. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen!
Duck was my counteraction in the early 70s. In a couple of weeks, I’ll take you to the late 70s in junior high, and talk about . . . the Punch.
Sowing Seeds of Bravery to Duck!
Some extra verses from The Message Version make me chuckle, so I share them here:
- “Protect me from their evil scheming . . . Let the wicked fall flat on their faces, while I walk off without a scratch” Psalm 141:10.
- “…They dug a mantrap to catch me, and fell in headlong themselves” Psalm 57:6.
- “See that man … digging, then concealing, his man-trap down that lonely stretch of road? Go back and look again—you’ll see him in it headfirst, legs waving in the breeze. That’s what happens: mischief backfires” Psalm 7:15-16.
