The Eye of the Tiger

Hello out there!

I am back with my next Hero in my series. It took me awhile to figure out how I was going to write about this person but I think I found a way.

But before I start of, let me repeat a little about the Heroes we already talked about.
We had Joseph whose heart stayed soft through all the hardships and he never stopped loving. Then I talked about Tristan who was willing to make the tough choices no matter what it cost him. And last time I talked about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were brave people who had influence and feared their God.

The next Hero I am going to introduce you to is someone who you might me surprised about but watching the movie (yes he is a fictional person) just inspired me and I saw something that I have to share with you. I will write about Rocky Balboa. Yes, exactly I will write about a fictional boxer played by Sylvester Stallone. Those of you who read this and were born in the 90s, I'll excuse you for not knowing who Rocky is .

In the third movie of the sequels Rocky is really successful and keeps his title as world champion easily. He and his family have all the comfort to enjoy in life and it has become easy for him - especially after such a long journey from not having anything to having everything.
When he loses the fight and his title against a brutal challenger, Clubber Lang, Rocky is brought back to earth. And on top of this, his long year trainer Mickey dies. It seems like his world is falling apart.

Yet he chooses to fight back and gain victory over Clubber Lang. This indeed is easier said than done because, as his new trainer Apollo tells him, he has lost the eye of the tiger. But what does that mean? We’ll come to it shortly.
Things don’t seem to get better until a very crucial scene in the movie where Rocky and his wife Adrian talk at the beach. He confesses that he is afraid, afraid to lose, afraid to not be able to provide for his family, afraid to not being able of keeping up the life they have.
It is in that very scene that we see his heart and see the struggle.

So first thing to learn here is that fear will always hinder us to win. The bible clearly tells us that we should not be afraid. Because when we are afraid we cannot believe and hence not be victorious. It holds back faith!
After this conversation with Rocky’s wife he stays a little longer at the beach. He knows he has to make a decision. But the good thing also is that he knows that no matter what will happen, his wife is with him (just a little side note for you ladies out there ). That empowers him and sets him free.
He chooses to win and not be afraid.

So you can fight, but without the -what they call the eye of the tiger -, you will not win either. The eye of the tiger here basically means that you stick through things, that you are determined to win, to make it happen. In our walk with Christ we might not be afraid, and chose to win, but when we do not have a full commitment, a determination to win, we will not gain the same victories.
Therefore the second thing to learn here is to fight with commitment. In our daily life we have to fight for our faith. We are in this world and there will be struggles and fights, sometimes smaller, sometimes bigger, but when we are single minded on the Lord, not losing sight of Him and fear him (remember the 3 men in the furnace) we will not only gain victory, but gain strong victory. We will defeat our fears, our struggles and grow in the Lord. And people will be drawn to us, because they see our single mindedness.

Rocky did gain back the eye of the tiger. He starts training for real again. But not in the old ways. He challenges his way of doing things and redefines himself.

Hence the third thing to learn from Rocky is that it is important for us, that we allow change in our life. Challenge yourself. Make things different. If gaining victory and really growing in our walk with Christ means that we have to completely turn things upside down and redefine the way we do things, then hey, let’s do it, go for it! Let’s not stick to the same old stuff. If it means that we have to let go of things in our life then we should definitely do it. If we really want to live this overflowing amazing God driven life, we have to allow God to put His finger on things in our life that need change or need to be let go. The outcome of being obedient is amazing - trust me on this one!

After Rocky makes this decision at the beach you see how it is affecting his life and how change is happening. He regains strength. He fights with the Eye of the Tiger and changes himself.

What happens then? You can already guess it. When he fights Clubber Lang again, he wins, he gains victory and not only a little bit or merely. No, full earned, better than ever victory!

That is what makes him a Hero in my eyes.

So before I leave you with those thoughts, I want to encourage you to look at your own life, where do you have fears? Where do you need change? Where do you need to start fighting for real again?

I also posted the Trailer to the Rocky III movie, which gives you a nice overview of the movie.

I hope you fill encouraged and empowered.

As always I would love to hear your thoughts about it.

xoxo Ramona