Taking Up The Fight

For you are God, my only safe haven.
    Why have you tossed me aside?
Why must I wander around in grief,
    oppressed by my enemies?
Send out your light and your truth;
    let them guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
    to the place where you live.
There I will go to the altar of God,
    to God—the source of all my joy.
I will praise you with my harp,
    O God, my God!                           Psalm 43:3-4

The other day, my spirit was beaten down.  I was tired because of troubles surrounding me.  Some of which were things that I had not done as well as I should, and others were things where people had not lived up to what I would have asked of them.  I knew that only God could help me, but even when you know that is the answer, sometimes it can be a little difficult to find Him.  Usually, that was caused when I focus so much on those things around me that I struggle to see Him.  It was not about being prayerful because that has actually been a solid part of my daily life as of late.  However, my prayers were not quite as filled with His spirit as before.  Those are the times that I have to remember that as strong as my faith is, I am never stronger than when rely on Him to be my strength.  Not me.  I have to break down and just focus on Him and Him alone.  Then, God’s light shines brightly, and my spirit is renewed.

We as followers of Christ need to remember that we are never as strong as when His will in our lives is strong and our own will is weak.  In saying that, it sounds like we are giving in as if we ourselves are weak.  However, true strength is submitting to God’s will.  We are trusting in God’s spirit within us to provide us power.  We all have had situations where we were in a battle where we were continually getting punched in the face, and the mountain would not move no matter how hard we tried.  Then we just surrender it all to God, and suddenly the mountain begins to move.  It is God both within us and outside of us creating change.  Sometimes the mountain moves because we have greater strength through Him, and other times, the mountain moves because those things holding it have been made unstable as God behind the scene is making a way.  When we earnestly seek God for strength and His light shines on us, we find a pathway to Him.  We can then walk with a confidence that we ourselves cannot create.

No matter how strong we may train ourselves to be, we are destined to fail without God.  We cannot survive on our own strength alone as the world is relentless in its attack on us.  1 Peter 5:8 says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”  If your feel unsafe and weakened, do not continue to push against the world.  Let go your troubles, and relinquish them and yourself to God.  Then let His will push the mountain and His light guide you to a place of joy.  Where is your spiritual gauge?  What do you need to relinquish to God today?  Today, I pray we are able to let go of our will to fight and let God take up the fight to our battles.  Amen.