Our lives often consist of battles, battles which take place over the entire length of one’s life and shape us into who we are and who we can potentially become. The Christian life on the other hand consists of battles which will shape us for serving in eternity, and these are often fights that define how we perceive God. In our ignorance, we focus on the battles that have not yet taken place, and we often face our present circumstances vastly unequipped and with our focus on things that have not yet happened.
Defining battles
In every waking and non-waking moment, we are facing various kinds of circumstances, and it is in these circumstances that our character is defined. Take for example the Jews who spent 40 years wandering the wilderness, they were afraid to fight and stand against all that was in the way of them claiming the promise land and as a result an entire generation had to die off in order to proceed. The choice they made in that moment, that particular battle, cost them an entire generation and 40 long years.
Each obstacle, every action and re action in the countless fights we face as believers is a defining moment. It is a moment that is filled with some form of victory or one that forces the battle to prolong further until we are defined in the right way, Gods way. The sooner we come to the realisation that every battle, every choice we make, every small victory defines a piece of who we are, that is the moment we begin to live truly for God.
Perceiving God
There are times when we are often faced with such an horrific defeat, it is usually in those moments we begin to see God in a negative light. My life has been one constant defeat and I have faced many harsh defeats and circumstances, it is a result of not partnering with God and allowing Him to fight on our behalf. In every challenge, trail and toil we often choose to take control and as a result we are utterly defeated or barely survive, yet if we were to partner with God and see Him win the victory He has promised to win, it is only then we will experience true success.
It is how we perceive God that heavily determines how we approach the fights of life. If we view Him in as negative or distant we will enter every fight and either lose or barely make it through. If we see Him as He is, we will prepare properly and partner with Him and as a result even though we may suffer, it’ll be a victory we reap in eternity.
One at a Time
As I mentioned before, we as humans have this innate ability to go against 100 different things at once and writing from experience it often results in a miserable defeat and an unnecessary amount of stress. We can learn from the example of the Israelites again, they conquered the promise land one battle at a time, one victory after the other partnered with God.
It is essential in learning from that example and applying it in the sense that we can only ever proceed successfully one step, one victory after the other.
We are not capable of dealing with multiple assaults, but we are capable of facing one at a time. David had to overcome countless obstacles to become king, and once he was king more it didn’t stop. The point is the fighting never stops, but with God and taking it one separate battle at a time, victory is assured, because in plain terms God is good.