A 10-year-old boy had lost his left arm in a tragic car accident. Though fully recovered, he became very depressed, withdrawing into a world of inactivity, assuming he could never again be normal, playing like other kids. His parents decided to enroll him with an old Japanese judo master to see if that might motivate him and help regain his will to live.
Happily, the boy seemed to “click” with his elderly teacher and after three months was doing exceedingly well. But he began to realize that during that time his teacher had only taught him one move. One day the boy approached his teacher and asked, “Sensei, shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”
The old master quietly replied, “Even though this is the only move you know, it is the only move you’ll ever need to know.”
Though puzzled, the boy kept training diligently and a few months later he entered his first tournament. He was surprised at how easily he won his first two matches. The third, however, proved more difficult. But after some time his opponent became impatient and charged, and the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. He was amazed, realizing that he now had only one more match left the championship match of the tournament.
This time his opponent was bigger, stronger and much more experienced. The boy bravely competed, though it was painfully apparent that he was overmatched. The referee, becoming concerned that he might get hurt, called a time-out, intending to stop the contest. But the old teacher intervened.
“No,” he insisted. “Let him continue.”
Not long after the event resumed, the boy’s opponent, becoming overconfident, dropped his guard and in an instant was pinned. The one-armed boy had won the tournament!
Later the boy asked his teacher, “How did I win the tournament knowing only one move?”
“For two reasons,” came the answer. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in judo. Second, the only defense against that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”
But Samson’s victory pales to insignificance when we think of our blessed Lord Jesus who willingly went to the cross the Creator of this world, allowing Himself to be nailed there in what outwardly appeared so utterly hopeless and helpless. Yet it was at that very moment, when the enemy of our souls seemed so completely victorious, that “through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)). “When I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:1010Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)).
Ed.