Some TV commercials are hard to get out of your head.  The commercial about the energizer bunny is one of them.  It is just stupid the way this mechanical bunny keeps walking while beating on a big base drum.  Over flat surfaces and over obstacles nothing can stop this stupid bunny.  He just keeps walking and beating on his drum.  It may be stupid but you can’t get the image out of your mind and you remember the name of the batteries that power that bunny.  So the next time you need batteries for your smoke detector there is a good chance you will buy this brand.

Last week the image of the energizer bunny popped up in my mind as I was visiting with a patient.  She was recovering from shoulder replacement surgery.  She was still in considerable pain.  She was still taking quite a bit of pain medication.  In a few days she would be discharged from the hospital and would be going to a rehab facility where she would face weeks of physical therapy which would be painful and stressful.  She was going to have to climb a tall mountain to get back to the point where she could care for herself again.

As we talked about the difficulties that faced her she said,” This isn’t the first time I’ve had to face challenges.  I have had more surgeries than I can count.  I have been up and down dozens of times in my life.  Somehow I have found a way to keep going.”

As I heard her say this the image of the energizer bunny came to my mind.  I said to her, “You remind me of the energizer bunny.  You just keep going and going.”  She laughed when I said this and she said, “I don’t know if I’m the energizer bunny.  I’m not going as fast as he does.  I’m only beating the drum with one drum stick.  But I am still going.”

What is it that keeps us going?  Is it the strong will that our God has given us to keep going at all costs?  Is it our desire to live long enough to see a grand child graduate from college?  Is it our conviction that our God is with us and within us no matter what challenges we face?

In Romans chapter eight the apostle Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.  He didn’t know about the energizer bunny commercial but he had the same image in mind as he looked at the challenges that we all have to face.  If God is for us then we can keep walking and beating the drum.