Mike O'Shawnessy walked into a Dublin pub, his face beaten to a pulp. "And, Mike," said the proprietor, "who did that to ye, me boy?" "I had an awful fight with Patrick Shannon," was the reply. "What? How in the world did ye let a little lad like Patrick beat ye up that way? Ye'll be the laughing stock of the town for lettin' a little good-for-nothin' runt like Patrick do that to ye." "Now wait a minute," said Mike, "don't ye be talkin' disrespectfully of the dead."
Sometimes it's hard to tell by just looking who won the fight. Consider Jesus on the cross. By looking at Him you'd suppose that He'd been in an awful fight, and lost; you might think that Satan had really beaten Him up and won the contest. The disciples certainly thought so. Looking back on those dreadful scenes they said, "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel." - (Lk. 24:21). They were whipped, but Jesus wasn't. Despite all that Satan did to prevent it, on the third day after the crucifixion came the resurrection which signaled Satan's defeat and Jesus' victory. Though Jesus was battered and bruised and showed every sign of being beaten, in reality only His heal was bruised while Satan's head was crushed - (see Gen. 3:15). Appearances can really be deceiving.
We look around at our world and see so much evil and suffering. It's discouraging and makes us wonder who's winning the fight - good or evil, Jesus or Satan? But don't let appearances deceive you, for no matter how victorious sin and Satan may appear to be, in reality and ultimately Jesus and those who are on His side are going to win the fight. "These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful." - (Rev. 17:14). Remember, folks, no matter how it may look "greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." - (1 Jn. 4:4).
Lonnie Ritchie