Unshackled Moments ~ January 12, 2018 ~ Fighting My Shadow

I'm shadow boxing the phantom of my will

- Randy Stonehill

I heard the above line in a song this morning, and it created a vivid picture in my mind. Maybe that's because I grew up loving to watch boxing with my father, who himself loved it because he had a brother who boxed and who had a large influence and impact on him. I can picture my uncle shadow boxing in training for a fight, even though I never saw him do anything boxing related. He had quit before I was born, and even I long preceded the days before everyone began carrying a video camera around in their pocket.

If you are unfamiliar with the term shadow boxing and were to look up the definition, you would find something like to spar with an imaginary opponent as a form of training. In one sense pretending to fight may seem childish and silly. There's no one there. You can't fight your shadow. And this truth led me to the first thoughts on the idea of shadow boxing the phantom of my will. As hard as the struggle can be at times to keep the old man, old nature, the flesh, the carnal self, however you wish to define the who we were when we're talking about the what it was like portion of our story before we found relationship with the Power greater than us who loves us and cares about us enough to do for us what we can not do for ourselves and set us free, when we struggle with that nature, we're fighting a phantom. The old is passed away, and we have been made new.

As big and scary as shadows can be, they are only shadows. They are not able to hurt us if we don't react out of our fear and do something foolish. I do remember once as a child running into a door as I turned to run from what turned out to be a shadow in my room. That hurt, but it wasn't the shadow that hurt me but my giving in to fear and reacting without caution, thought or direction. Who we were before is just a shadow, a phantom, and there is no need to worry about him or be afraid of him, even if he looms over us. The amazing thing about our shadow is that if we change our position in relation to the light, it gets smaller and less substantial, even if it doesn't ever completely go away. If the phantom we of the past calls and taunts and makes us feel like we have no choice but to live and breathe and be the way we once did when we were slaves, we can simply reposition ourselves in the light of the Spirit and watch the threat shrivel and fade to thin and small and non-threatening.

But while the phantom we are fighting is no real threat if we remember whose we are and that it is His power and light that defeats our darkness and not our ability, strength or determination, shadow boxing is not silly, frivolous or pointless.

Most boxing trainers prefer that their fighters do their shadow boxing before engaging in any other daily exercise routines. The main purpose of this exercise, apart from getting the muscles ready for another activity, is usually to maintain a fighter's rhythm and show the fighter how they would look at that stage of training against a certain opponent. This could be important as fighters envision themselves facing their immediate future opponents: it usually gives fighters an idea of what is, and what is not, to be fixed.

- Jacob Stevens

While our phantom past is not a real threat when we remember that it is dead and gone and we have been made new in Christ, we are still living in enemy territory, in a fallen, contrary world with dangers, pitfalls and temptations. This shadow boxing our phantom is will is an important part of our training and readiness to face our real opponents and should be done before any other exercise or training.

I hope that I haven't taken the metaphor too far and lost you, Dear Reader. I know that not everyone is a fight fan. Our phantom will, our self, the way we were, is no real threat to us if we remember that we have been given a power beyond our own through Daddy's love for us, the work of Christ on the cross for us and the indwelling Spirit working in us. If we remember the grace, the power of God doing for us what we can't do for ourselves, we have and our identity as those who have been set free, then putting our self in its place is as effortless as slapping our shadow. But it is critically important to do so.

We are to daily deny self and follow Him. We have a daily reprieve contingent upon the maintenance of our spiritual condition. That means that first things first, we need to remember our position to and in the Light and make sure our form is good and we are surrendered to His will and care before we plan, strategize and prepare for the day by putting the shadow phantom of our will in submission to His will. When that is done, we can go through our day prepared for the fights we will face, because we are in the shadow of His wing, His will, and the Lord will fight on our behalf. No foe, not even the temptations of our past, can defeat us when we are walking in the light of the Spirit.

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