Do not mistake this for a post fight analysis, because 1) I did not get to watch the fight as it happened as Owie was set to preach at the 1 and 3PM services of Victory Ortigas on the same day and time (almost) of the fight, 2) I am nowhere near a boxing fanatic or expert so I do not really have the credibility to come up with one, and 3) which is the most important of all, is that I have 99 percent bias towards Manny Pacquiao because he is both a fellow Filipino and a follower of Jesus. What I wish to share on the blog though is how God reminded and taught me something through what this that was dubbed as ‘the greatest fight’ in boxing.
Almost my entire Saturday was devoted praying for our People’s Champ. I prayed for him during my quiet time. Eliana and I prayed for him right before she took her afternoon nap. And almost the entire evening, I was so consumed by the thought of the fight and in between these thoughts I would utter a prayer for Pacman. I watched the HBO documentary, Mayweather/Pacquiao At Last, and it even hyped me up some more. Before I went to bed, I prayed again for Manny. For some reason, this is the only fight of Pacquiao I felt so affected and into it. Perhaps because it took five long years to finally make it happen. Probably because I just do not like the arrogance of Mayweather leading to the fight. Most possibly because Pacman shares the same faith as I do and my battle cry was that of which appears in David’s psalms quite a lot, ‘Let me not be put to shame, LORD, for I have cried out to you;’ ‘No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame…’ So the entire time I received updates from my girl friends via WhatsApp, the only thing running in my head were those lines, pleading to God to give Pacman the victory. But we all know how the fight resulted and I was sad for a real bit for Manny. At one point in that real bit of sadness I seriously asked God ‘Why??’ I felt that if God had granted Manny that win, he, as he always does, would bring back all the glory to God anyway. But why did He not make Manny win? Why?? There goes my ‘Job’ moment.
How true it is that when you want God to speak to you, He really does; in a way our ‘human’ mind can understand His wisdom and ways that is so much higher than ours. Last night, I felt God reminding me a few things about the MayPac fight.
1) There is no shame in losing, especially if you did your best and gave your all for the glory of God. My friends sent me videos as the fight happened and I also watched other videos, it was very evident Pacquiao came out to fight. He did what he could do even with a shoulder injury reappearing beginning on the third round. He fought and finished all 12 rounds and did not even look shaken. And though the stats showed Mayweather threw and landed so many more punches on him, Pacman did not look like he just got beaten. He did his best, I am certain he did. When you proudly wear your shirt that says ‘All Glory and Honor Belongs to God,’ you do not only declare it, you live up to it.
2) Unanswered prayer does not mean unheard prayer. God did not give the exact answer to what I had cried out to for Pacman, but it does not mean God did not do anything about it either. The fact that Pacquiao gave Mayweather a really good fight (which many noticed and admired) meant that God heard my plea to not put Pacman to shame in front of the entire world.
3) God protects His people that the world cannot put them to shame. One thing I was scared of was Mayweather bashing Pacquiao after the fight. He has been doing this years before the fight was even inked and he continued to do it leading to the fight. Surprisingly, Mayweather’s immediate post fight interview was with humility, did not even spite Pacquiao, instead offered praises to Pacman’s performance. How did this happen? I am most certain only God worked on every word that came out of his mouth.
4) World victory is nothing compared to eternal victory we have in Jesus. True it would have been something else had Manny won. But that ‘something else’ only has value in this world. And while there were some who were fully convinced Mayweather had won the fight, Pacquiao was cheered on and celebrated more after by the world because of his heart; and that in itself feels like eternal victory in this world. Only a true follower of Jesus would have undeniable honor because the world sees how he lives his life according to his proclaimed faith. For that, Pacman cannot be put to shame.
At the end of the day, even if Manny did not win ‘the greatest fight of the century,’ God did not allow His faithful child to be put to shame. The world cannot and did not throw anything bad against Manny Pacquiao which may put him down or shame him. Just like several psalms of David reminding us, He will preserve the faithful and uphold the righteous. For fighting and giving your very best, heart and all, THANK YOU, Manny Pacquiao!
source: McDo_PH twitter account
ina~nutshell 
beautiful write up.
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