Fight!

        This life is a battle...and this world is a battlefield.
        In case you didn't know that--or have forgotten--let me remind you of that great and terrible truth right now.  Because here's the thing: the busyness of our daily lives has a way of numbing us to the truth of the war that's continually being waged all around us, and indeed, often within us.
        We become  preoccupied with all we have to do and with our little agendas...and we disengage from the battle.  We close our eyes to the sorrow and struggles all around us...and we refuse to enter the fight.  We're blinded to the war by our own sin and selfishness...and we fail to even notice or glimpse the battle.  We tragically grow immune to the war raging all around us, because we've allowed our focus to shift from the Savior to our circumstances...and little by little we become more and more passive, more and more ineffective in the fierce battle for the souls of men and women, marriages and families, and indeed for our very hearts and minds.
         I confess this to my shame, because that has been me in the past week and a half.  Our Morning Glory Bible study just finished up until next fall, and my life became crazy busy with all kinds of commitments.  Well, guess what was the first thing to suffer?  My time alone with the One Who possesses all power, all wisdom, all joy, all hope, all peace, all strength, all ability.  Yes, I was reading my One Year Bible and reading certain devotions I love, but I was failing to spend TIME quietly enjoying His presence, praying for His power, and worshipping His greatness and grace.  It's all too easy fall into rote mode and MISS it.  MISS Him!
        And so the war raged...and I went AWOL.
        Meanwhile I have friends who are struggling on the front lines, engaged in virulent, violent struggles against the enemy.  Fighting for their families, their marriages, their health.  And I should be right there beside them spiritually, fighting alongside them in the heavenly realms.  Instead, I'd gotten up off my knees, closed my eyes, and allowed myself to be busy, busy, busy with my own agenda.  (I think there's a word for that: uh, "selfishness.")  Oh forgive me, Father, for falling asleep in the midst of the fray.
        But I'm awake now, praise God...and ready to engage, NOT in my paltry, pitiful power, mind you, but in the Name, by the grace, and for the glory of my Almighty Lord and King.
        How about you?
        Can I make one simple suggestion: it starts not on the noisy, chaotic battlefield.  It begins quietly...alone with the One who made you, knows you, redeemed you, loves you, sustains you, forgives you, and empowers you.  Time alone with the Good Shepherd who will lead you beside still waters...in order to prepare and equip you for the raging rapids and turbulent waterfalls up ahead.
       So start with Him.  First thing in the morning.  "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed." (Mark 1:35)  Here's how Oswald Chambers put it: "Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God."
        It all starts alone with Him, being filled and armed for the battle ahead.
       Then stay with Him--in your heart and in your mind--throughout the day.  He is with you.  He is for you.  He is in you.  He is before and behind and beside you.  You are never, ever, ever fighting alone.  Fight by His grace, for His glory, and by His great power.  We cannot, cannot, cannot do this in our own strength.  That's a recipe for burnout and failure.
        But oh my, by His power, by His strength, for His glory, well, no telling what He can and will do!  One more quote from William Gurnall, the great 17th century Puritan pastor: "If the provisions were left in our own hands, we would soon be bankrupt merchants.  God knows we are weak, like cracked pitchers--if filled to the brim and set aside, the contents would soon leak out. So He puts us under a flowing fountain of His strength and constantly refills us...If God had given you a lifetime supply of His grace to begin with and left you to handle your own account, you would have thought Him generous indeed.  But He is magnified even more by the open account He sets up in your name.  Now you must acknowledge not only that your strength comes from God in the first place, but that you are continually in debt for every withdrawal of strength you make throughout your Christian course."
         Bottom line?  Get into the Word, and get onto your knees.  Today.  Everyday.  Stop making excuses for how busy you are.  Stop allowing other priorities to usurp this most critical of all priorities.  Get alone with Him so you can be filled with His wisdom, strength, and joy...and then get active in the battle.  By His grace, for His glory.
         There's a war raging, and God's calling you to serve. And incredibly, He's the One who will do all the fighting...but His plan is to do it through you and through me.  Get ready people, and fight.  As Nehemiah declared, "And I looked and arose and said...'Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters your wives, and your homes.'"  
          And fight for your friends...by His grace, for His glory.
          To God be the glory.