I have always loved comedy from movies to stand up. Recently I began watching Kevin Hart’s documentary, Don’t Mess This Up (yes I slightly changed this title). In episode three Kevin is forthcoming about his affair one night in Vegas. Obviously I do not condone this action, but what struck me is what he said about his circle of friends. He said, “I didn’t have my circle around me. I was moving in unfamiliar territory. With your circle around you, it’s very hard to do stupid stuff. You get tapped on your back, ‘Hey dummy. What are you doing?’” 

Satan likes to get us in isolation. When we are trapped in our own thoughts with no accountability he can distort our thinking. He can convince us to do things, we wouldn’t normally even consider. After losing Alex, it was at night when my husband was sleeping (I swear nothing can alter that man’s mission to sleep) when I felt the most alone. These were the moment’s Satan was really trying to wreck me. He would twist anything that was good from the day and made it difficult to breathe.

While fighting for the light in the darkness, I was punched over and over where it hurt the most. 

I was weak. I was broken. I was childless and nothing was going to change the new badge I wore: “Angel Mom’s Club.”

We all have a story of when Satan tried to trap us. For some of us he has won a round or two. You don’t need to carry shame in that lost round. You are not alone. Think back to David as I mentioned in Shame: Satan’s Lie, when he couldn’t sleep and went to his rooftop he saw Bathsheba bathing. She is a married woman and he is a married man. But in isolation, he is tempted to be with her. Guess what? Satan won that round. And a few more when he tried to cover it up. 

There is only one who never lost a round to Satan, Jesus. 

Here in Matthew 4 we see Jesus was alone, 

 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

With each swing, Jesus was ready. With each twist of the truth, Jesus was ready. 

In boxing you have twelve rounds or a knockout to the opponent to win. I would say only Jesus has the knockout ability with Satan in isolation. Between each round the boxer returns to his corner. His “corner man,” according to encylcopedia.com, “is a person who is permitted to be present in a fighter’s corner during a boxing match in order to provide advice or assistance to the fighter.” He is essential to the fighter. The boxer is never alone in the fight. How could he possibly make a rational decision in the midst of the fight?  In fact, the corner man will decide to “throw in the towel” when the fighter is in danger of physical harm.

Are you trying to do this life alone? We are not meant to be alone. We all need a corner man (even a team) to push us to be better. 

Granted many of us are currently in isolation as I write this, but we have a huge advantage right now. We have the opportunity to evaluate who is in our corner.

The people we allow to surround us can either propel us in our faith or assist Satan in winning a round. 

I have been listening to some coaching sessions online with JTFoxx and he said you have A, B, and C friends. A friends- encourage and inspire you,  B friends- are mediocre, and C friends- are negative. 

This is the time to take your friends and determine where they fall. Those who are negative need to “C” their way to the door (like what I did there?) Now is the time to embrace change, find your corner team, and move forward in your calling. 

You have twelve rounds, don’t give up because you have lost a few, the fight isn’t over and you haven’t been knocked out.