April 2nd, 2025
by John Kelley
by John Kelley
I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m a huge pro wrestling fan. Now, before you go and say, “You know it’s fake, right?” Yes. I know it’s a scripted athletic performance. The athletes are basically actors who are willing to beat their bodies down to entertain an audience. I, for one, really enjoy it….even when it can get a little corny. One of my favorite matches of all time is the “I Quit” match. The premise is that the two combatants enter the ring, and the match isn’t over until one of the wrestlers says, “I Quit” into a microphone. Pretty simple, right? The match can get brutal, and it’s a test of who has the will to continue in the midst of insurmountable odds.
There have been so many of these matches throughout the years, but the one that has always stuck in my head was from Starcade 1985. It was Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA in a “steel cage I quit” match. These two had been fighting each other for some time over the NWA United States championship, and it all would culminate in the ring at the NWA’s biggest event of the year. These two fought and never let up on each other for almost half an hour. At one point, a wooden chair was thrown into the cage and was shattered to pieces until Magnum TA took a piece of the chair and shoved it into the eye of Blanchard, leading him to say, “I quit!” It was gruesome and violent, and an 11-year-old John Kelley thought it was the greatest thing he’d ever seen. Blanchard had nothing left to give and didn’t want to go on.
Life can feel like an “I Quit” match sometimes. Loss, illness, financial difficulties, and hardships of many kinds can hit at any time, and they can feel like mountains that are impossible to climb. Many, if not all of us, have experienced frustration to the point of just wanting to throw our hands up in the air. So many times, we start to go down the road of, “God! Why are you making my life so hard!” Our first mechanism as humans is always to find someone to put blame on. We get angry, frustrated, and exhausted. All of this can lead us to feel like we just need to give up and quit. Hope is lost, and we can’t go on. Thankfully, we serve a merciful Savior who doesn’t leave us in our misery. He meets us where we are with compassion and grace.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14–16
Christianity is the only religion where our God came to earth as a human being, not an avatar or representation of Himself, but actually as a separate person. He experienced what we experienced. He felt the temptations we felt. He dealt with the loss of loved ones. He suffered great pain, and he felt what it was like to be betrayed. When you think about it, Jesus probably dealt with more pain in His life than any of us ever will. This is central to who we are as believers. Jesus knows what it means to be human, and He knows how to overcome.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:1–11
Verse 3 says that we “rejoice in our sufferings.” Wait, what? How does that work? Suffering is misery. Why would we ever rejoice in that? This is where Paul continues… “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Paul is telling us that suffering essentially leads to hope. Why does this work, because “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.“ For most of us, we feel like we can’t get there, but we have the example of Christ to show us how that works. A couple of days ago, we read this scripture.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3–5
That’s great John, but how do we rejoice when life gets hard? Let’s read the next few verses.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:6–9
Life isn’t a battle against time, but we can be distracted by that. It is so easy to see what’s going on in the world around us and only feel despair. We see all the hurt, sickness, and war, and we begin to wonder where we can find hope. For thousands of years, man has tried and failed to avoid death. It comes for all of us. No one wins that game. However, life in this world is temporary. Instead of looking at the temporary, physical things of this world, we need to focus on the eternal.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
John 14:1–4
God’s greatest example of mercy was Jesus. He suffered worse than we suffer. He hurt worse than we hurt. And in the midst of all of it, He never lost trust in God. He became the embodiment of hope for us. In God’s mercy, he redefined “suffering” into “hope.” Let us never lose sight of that amazing gift. Let’s never utter those words, “I quit.”
There have been so many of these matches throughout the years, but the one that has always stuck in my head was from Starcade 1985. It was Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA in a “steel cage I quit” match. These two had been fighting each other for some time over the NWA United States championship, and it all would culminate in the ring at the NWA’s biggest event of the year. These two fought and never let up on each other for almost half an hour. At one point, a wooden chair was thrown into the cage and was shattered to pieces until Magnum TA took a piece of the chair and shoved it into the eye of Blanchard, leading him to say, “I quit!” It was gruesome and violent, and an 11-year-old John Kelley thought it was the greatest thing he’d ever seen. Blanchard had nothing left to give and didn’t want to go on.
Life can feel like an “I Quit” match sometimes. Loss, illness, financial difficulties, and hardships of many kinds can hit at any time, and they can feel like mountains that are impossible to climb. Many, if not all of us, have experienced frustration to the point of just wanting to throw our hands up in the air. So many times, we start to go down the road of, “God! Why are you making my life so hard!” Our first mechanism as humans is always to find someone to put blame on. We get angry, frustrated, and exhausted. All of this can lead us to feel like we just need to give up and quit. Hope is lost, and we can’t go on. Thankfully, we serve a merciful Savior who doesn’t leave us in our misery. He meets us where we are with compassion and grace.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14–16
Christianity is the only religion where our God came to earth as a human being, not an avatar or representation of Himself, but actually as a separate person. He experienced what we experienced. He felt the temptations we felt. He dealt with the loss of loved ones. He suffered great pain, and he felt what it was like to be betrayed. When you think about it, Jesus probably dealt with more pain in His life than any of us ever will. This is central to who we are as believers. Jesus knows what it means to be human, and He knows how to overcome.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:1–11
Verse 3 says that we “rejoice in our sufferings.” Wait, what? How does that work? Suffering is misery. Why would we ever rejoice in that? This is where Paul continues… “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Paul is telling us that suffering essentially leads to hope. Why does this work, because “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.“ For most of us, we feel like we can’t get there, but we have the example of Christ to show us how that works. A couple of days ago, we read this scripture.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3–5
That’s great John, but how do we rejoice when life gets hard? Let’s read the next few verses.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:6–9
Life isn’t a battle against time, but we can be distracted by that. It is so easy to see what’s going on in the world around us and only feel despair. We see all the hurt, sickness, and war, and we begin to wonder where we can find hope. For thousands of years, man has tried and failed to avoid death. It comes for all of us. No one wins that game. However, life in this world is temporary. Instead of looking at the temporary, physical things of this world, we need to focus on the eternal.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
John 14:1–4
God’s greatest example of mercy was Jesus. He suffered worse than we suffer. He hurt worse than we hurt. And in the midst of all of it, He never lost trust in God. He became the embodiment of hope for us. In God’s mercy, he redefined “suffering” into “hope.” Let us never lose sight of that amazing gift. Let’s never utter those words, “I quit.”
Recent
Archive
2025
January
March
2024
January
What Is Prayer?AdorationConfessionThanksgivingSupplicationScripture Is The Word Of GodGod’s Word Guides UsGod’s Word Convicts UsGod’s Word Connects UsGod’s Word Encourages UsWhat Is Worship?Worship In Our WorkWorship In Our FamilySunday WorshipWorship Even When You Don't Want ToWhat is Fasting All About?Giving God Our Meal TimesEmptied of Ourselves and Filled with ChristFasting Develops FocusFood Is OverratedGod Is NOT In The FireJesus Sneaks OffWe Make Our Own Noise
February
We All Need SpaceGod Is Not Santa ClausWith Great Blessing Comes Great ResponsibilityCan Stewardship Be Scary?Filling the Need When We See ItIt's All His AnywayTime Is NOT On My SideWe Need Each OtherDevoted To The WordBreaking Bread TogetherGroup Conversations With GodFour Hands Are Better Than TwoLet’s Keep It SimpleOnly Take What You NeedSlow DownThe Great PurgeA Simple MessageGod’s Word Is A WeaponDo You Have A Game Plan?What You Remember Most Matters MostStart With the Basics
March
April
Sin Is RealDistraction Leads to Cover-UpWandering In DisobediencePride Comes Before the FallI Do What I HateThe Beauty of RedemptionRedemption Has A PriceWe Need To Claim Our PrizeYou Gotta Have FaithEven When You Look Like a Fool….God Will ProvideTrust the ProcessI Forgive YouGrace Is Free, But It Isn't CheapI Was Wrong, You Were RightThe Mob
No Comments