Skip to main content

Whose Battle Is It?

I woke up weary this morning. Not tired. Weary, emotionally weary. Strong emotions - both my own and those of others in my proximity - exhaust me, and the past two years have been full of them. I think it's catching up with me. My soul felt like an anvil as I pulled myself out of bed. I made my coffee, took my vitamins, and sat down to pray. I began by telling God about my weariness. It was accompanied by all the whining that goes along with that type of prayer. Then I opened my Bible. I read Psalm 35.

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of [a]buckler and shield
And rise up for my help.
3 Draw also the spear and [b]the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, “I am your salvation." (NASB via Biblegateway.com)


I began to pray these verses, and as I did, my weariness became faith-instilled. The anvil broke lose. I recalled Jacob's fight with the angel that lasted all through the night. Jacob wouldn't let go until the angel had blessed him. Neither would I.

 How often do we "fight the good fight of faith" (1Tim 6:12) in our own strength?  How often do we "resist the devil (so that) he'll flee" (James 4:7) by our own might? We walk into our daily battles somehow believing that we're strong enough in and of ourselves. Even when we know we're not, we still do it - or at least, I do. 

 As I prayed these verses in Psalm 35, I realized that my part in the battlefield of daily life is to remain in Christ. My part is to depend on Him, to trust that this battle - today's battle - is the Lord's.

Comments

  1. AeronutMay 1, 2013 at 9:55 AM

    Thanks, Lori!! I feel weary often, and more often I forget I'm not battling life alone!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

As A Child

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3 Become like little children? Really? Children are definitely cute and innocent, but that pretty much covers the positive qualities. On the negative side, however, the list is quite a bit lengthier: demanding, dependent, self-centered, messy, often smelly, expensive, and embarrassingly honest. So why? WHY in the world would Jesus tell us to become like little children? WHY in the world would He want that? What was He thinking?! Well, He was a thirty-something year-old bachelor. Maybe He didn't really know what He was talking about when He said that. I mean, if we come to Him like little children, it's pretty much guaranteed to be messy. We're likely to be crabby, cranky. We might be downright angry. Prayer-ADD is hard to control on a good day. If we're not on top of it, if we don't have our list in front of us to focus our thoughts, we...
4 comments
Read more

From The Very First Time

From the very first time I knew My love for you Would be a lasting love It is not a common affection My devotion to you Will span my lifetime It will not fail Your scent alone Lures me now As it lured me then I breathe deeply Of your sweet And tantalizing aroma Should I take in your fragrance Every moment of all my days yet to come I would not tire of it I run my fingers down the length Of your smooth dark loveliness There is no blemish No flaw in you I taste I cannot help myself I must My tongue lingers Could heaven be any sweeter? Oh yes From the very first time I knew Mon chocolat sucre Yes I knew My sweet chocolate My love for you will be a lasting love
3 comments
Read more

How Do You Wait?

The barren one is now in her sixth month.  Not one promise from God is empty of power  for nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1: 37 The Passion Translation I've never thought that much about Elizabeth. Gabriel speaks here to Mary - the mother-to-be of none other than GOD Himself! Who has a thought to spare for this side character in THE story of divine visitation? God come to earth. Wow. Talk about a headline for the New York Times! Why does Gabriel even mention Elizabeth? I don't know, but I'm glad he did.  I read these verses with a different perspective this morning.  "The barren one." Elizabeth is now past childbearing years. It's not a secret. Everyone in her community knows she's barren (it's obvious). The life part of her life is over. There is no hope for her to have her dream - a life like her friends have. She's different from her family, her neighbors. In a time when children are everything, she has nothing.  And now it's too late...
1 comment
Read more