Overcoming the Battles

If there is one phrase that immediately makes me feel exhausted it’s “spiritual warfare.” Having fought many battles in my life, it seems like I can never escape. I’ll be in a place where it’s like, “Yeah! I’m loving life right now and then next it’s like, “I’m tapping out.”
I’m currently in a battle. Are you? If so, I hope my somewhat orchestrated ramblings will make sense to you and hopefully encourage you into your victory.
There are a few different kinds of battles I have faced. 1) Battles I brought against myself knowing full well what I was getting myself into. 2) Physical battles. 3) Battles of spiritual warfare. Unfortunately, I am in a mix of all three of these battles, which is quite a doozy.
BUT I’m not alone, and neither are you. When Jesus died, rose again and ascended to His throne in the Heavenlies – He did it. He won all victory over all evil. ALL. So, why do we fight battles? Because the enemy is really mad. He’s mad because he’s lost, but because Jesus hasn’t returned for us yet, Satan is going to do whatever he can to get one last shot at winning (but he never will). If he can’t have the victory, he’ll try to steal the victors from us.
However, sometimes when we talk about spiritual warfare, we focus SO much on Satan that he becomes all we see and then we feel defeated. It’s like when Peter walked on the water. The moment he took his eyes off of Jesus, the waves began to take him under. But that isn’t the end, Jesus reaches out His faithful hand.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.”
Isaiah 43:2
We have a Mighty Warrior who fights our battles. He says I’m a winner and Satan is a loser. Alas, the devil is like a lion. He must feed. He must return and try again.
But with everything there is balance. Even in spiritual warfare. Is it all Satan? No. Is it all God? No. There’s a balance. Job is a supreme example. When Satan comes before the LORD after having searched for someone to prey upon, the LORD suggests Job. Is Job a bad man who deserves hardship? No, Job is a “blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil,” says God in Job 1:8. So is Job the only person ever to have been suggested by God to Satan? Not sure. I’d bet against it though. There are people right now on this earth who have quite a future before them and God has prepared a royal inheritance. We can choose to settle and be a peasant forever surviving off breadcrumbs, or we can choose to accept the inheritance and live as royalty thriving off the loaf.
The crumbs are so small that they will never fill you up. So even sitting on the floor eating crumbs that fall from the tabletop won’t be enough to last you when you leave the dinner table until the next meal. Ah, but the loaf sustains. It will fill your belly and you will be satisfied even when you have to leave the table until the next meal. Trials are not all that exists in life. There is a purpose for all and hope for the future. I would never take back any hardship I have faced – not one. Not even the worst ones. I seek to be like David who worshiped God in the midst of his trials. He allowed God’s presence to come and inhabit his praise bringing freedom for his soul. All you have to do is lift your gaze (Psalm 121).
“Your life may be a bunch of broken pieces, but God uses those pieces to make a beautiful work of art called a mosaic. And that is your life. A beautiful work of art.”
You can choose to be ugly. You can choose to be bitter at the broken pieces.
OR
You can hand them over to the Artist and let Him tell your story by creating a beautiful, living, breathing work of art.

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