Marvel's The Punisher: And Lessons On Spiritual Warfare, Part 2 | Author of My Faith: Encouragement for Today's Christian Woman

Marvel’s The Punisher: And Lessons On Spiritual Warfare, Part 2

Inspiration
November 5, 2018
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Welcome back to this blog series on Marvel’s The Punisher. I certainly didn’t go into watching this series figuring that I’d glean anything that would heighten my understanding of spiritual warfare…oh, but it did. And here’s the second thing I walked away with a better understanding of:

Lesson 2: You have to push through the pain

I know that seems like a no brainer, but it takes a certain type of mindframe to push through significant pain. Think about it…the last time you were in pain like you’ve never experienced before, did you keep pushing like it was nothing? Did you perform just as well as if you were at 100%? Yeah…That’s what I thought…

Frank had been beaten, shot, stabbed and in the end – tortured. The man had neared death quite a few times in this series but he would not quit until he had achieved his goal. And even when he was faced with what seemed like failure, he teamed up with his friends to achieve his goal with a brilliant, foolproof plan. He sacrificed himself to get proof that would take down his enemies for good. I knew the pain was excruciating because he was grunting and had limited use of the parts of his body that had suffered the injuries. In fact, in the last episode, he was beaten so badly that it seemed like he may have sustained brain damage. But that didn’t stop him from doing what he needed to do.

Now, some might say “Well, he’s a Marine…that’s what he had been trained to do”. But in all honesty, some people just have a mindset that allows them to push through that type of pain. And I don’t necessarily believe that you’re born with it or you never have it. I think many people go through things in life that force them to learn how to do this. A mother protecting her children. A man who is facing the possibility of losing his job and his family becoming homeless. A trafficked child. A woman standing in prayer with a beloved friend with terminal cancer. All these situations are different but each person is facing pain that would cripple someone who’s not determined to get out of their situation. But the pain is only temporary to the one who holds on to the hope of life being much better on the other side.

In a fight, pain is inevitable. And it can determine whether we win or lose. If we decide that the pain is too much and give in, we lose. But if we see the pain as temporary and resolve to keep going no matter what life throws at us, we can win.

How do you react to pain? What keeps you going when you want to quit?

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