The Strength to Fight

Because the Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, he never changes. Deuteronomy 20:1 states, “When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.” Although this was written hundreds and hundreds of years ago, it still applies to our situations today. Not that we see horses and chariots in our personal battles, but we do fight very real battles which seem much bigger than ourselves, and we too need God’s deliverance from them.

Not only do we have a battle against flesh within that we must conquer (thoughts, feelings, temptations, attitudes), but we also have battles raging on around us in our society. Some are literal battles, some are not. Some are battles on humanity, battles for power, freedom and wealth or to attain all sorts of worldly things, no matter who has to be trampled on or abused to get those things.

Other battles are against those of us who have put their faith and trust in Christ. We are told by our world to “sit down, keep your mouth shut, do what we tell you and accept every lifestyle, whether you agree with it or not.” We often hear “Don’t judge,” or things like, “Love the sinner AND the sin. Acceptance is king. Do whatever feels good to you.” This is becoming a bigger and bigger battle every day, even in the United States. Just by standing up for what we believe in, we are accused of being hateful and intolerant. We are being told that our beliefs are archaic and need to “catch up with the times.” We are teased and cursed at because we pray to a God we cannot see with our eyes, or as the world puts it, “talking to your imaginary friend in the sky.” These battles can be very tough and wear us down if we are not careful.

Aren’t you thankful that God did not just leave us here to fend for ourselves and figure out how to survive these battles on our own?! In the aforementioned verse, we are assured that the Lord is with us and he fights for us, so we have nothing to be afraid of. We can go out with the same confidence that these people did as well as with the same confidence that the shepherd boy David had when he faced the giant (Goliath) and took him down with a few stones and a sling shot. How? Because the same God that gave little David the strength to win that battle is the same God who gives us strength to fight our battles today. We too face giants throughout our lives…relationship giants, financial giants, physical giants…and the list goes on and on. These things are far bigger than we are and God knows that, so he gives us the strength to fight these battles as he fights alongside us and for us.

He even fights many battles we cannot see, such as those found in Ephesians 6:12. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” If we knew all of the unseen enemies we had that God shielded us from we would be astonished, to say the least.

It would be so much easier to curl up, lie down and give up in the midst of all of these battles. There have been several times in my life where I wanted so badly to give up and raise the white flag of surrender. But, it is clear that God does not want us to do this because he says not to give up and that he will fight our battles for us and with us. Not only that, but he gives us an extra dose of strength when we are thrown head first into a huge battle.

You name it, I have pretty much been through most of it in my 40+ years of life. Life has been like a huge, rocky cliff with ragged edges that cut me going up and cut me going down. But God has been there crawling up and down that mighty cliff with me, cheering me on and giving me the strength to go one more inch. He has given me all the tools to survive these times. Besides his strength, he gives me wisdom, guidance and his Holy word to help direct the next step. He gives me a full coat of armor so that I can stand firm as I resist the evil around me.

Those without Christ have the “armor” of drugs, alcohol, wealth, sex, hobbies, social status, etc. The problem with that armor, however, is that it is very flimsy and does not outlast the fierce battles in life. It may be a temporary fix to help get you through one battle, but then what happens when one more thing happens such as when somebody cheats you, robs you, attacks you or fires you from your job? Does this armor stand the test of time faithfully?

Without the Lord’s strength and the armor he has given me, just the childhood abuse alone (that I endured) would have completely destroyed me. Had I been left to my own devices and left God out of the equation, I would not have had a leg to stand on. No chance to make it through intact. However, because I put my faith and trust in him at a very early age and chose to forgive those who seriously hurt me, he has fought for me and with me and I am eternally grateful!

I pray that you choose the same. You can turn away from God and try to fight all these battles on your own (and fail), or ask God to help you and trust him to fight for you and with you. His armor and protection is 100% guaranteed to withstand any battle you face. I think I will go shine my armor now. J