Fighting Battles

     "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle."
     I first heard this statement years ago, and I have never forgotten it.  I believe it was originally attributed to an old Scottish preacher over a century ago.  But the older I've grown, the more I recognize that this is the truth.  We are all fighting battles.  Every single one of us.  And if you are not in the midst of some tough and challenging battle right now, then rest assured, you are invariably about to enter a battle or just coming out of one.
     Battles differ... but they are still battles that require strength and resolve and fighting.  Some battles are very public.  Others very private.  Some humiliating and humbling.  Others piercing and painful.  Some short and fierce.  Others a long unrelenting and exhausting siege.
     We battle against dread diseases... and against entrenched addictions.  We battle against discouragement and despair... and against fear and worry.  We battle against physical forces... and against spiritual ones.  We battle against some enemy trying to hurt or destroy our loved ones... and against our own inner struggles and weaknesses.
     We are a people perpetually at war, it seems, and we need to be battle ready and fully protected by the armor of God--"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." (Eph.6:11).  We need to rise everyday and consciously put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  And above all these, we must be "praying at all times." (Ephesians 6:14-18)
     None of us need ever go unarmed or undermanned in any battle--God has provided the weaponry and the armor.  He has commanded us to pray.  And He is with us in the trenches.  O how thankful I am to have a God who fights for me and with me in all my battles--and in the battles of those I love.
     Last night, the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night.  As I lay in bed, my restless mind immediately went to several friends who are fighting fierce battles right now.  The tears spilled onto my pillow as I thought about the protracted, hard struggle they are facing against a deadly foe.  How I hate cancer.  How I hate the power of addictions.  How I hate all those things that diminish and debilitate and destroy the lives of people about whom I care deeply.
     But the Lord gently reminded me that if I, a sinful, selfish, shallow one, hate those things that destroy and maim lives, how much more does our Heavenly Father abhor those enemies.  And how much more does He desire and will our victory over them.  Look at the price paid by Jesus to secure our ultimate victory over sin and death and despair.  If we doubt His compassion or His love or His power, look to the cross... and the empty tomb.  Death no longer has the final word.  Sin has been defeated.  The ultimate power of our greatest foe has been destroyed.  So while we may be fighting our battles, final victory is assured.  Because He wins, we will always eventually win.
     And in the meantime, He fights with us and for us... in the cancer wards,  in the hospitals, in the hard, dark places, in the hidden corners of fear and frustration and failure.  He bids us put on His armor and join the battle, all the while knowing and trusting that Almighty God is fighting for us and with us.  We are never alone... and we never fight alone.  Never.
     What a reminder of this great reality in 2 Chronicles 20 when King Jehoshaphat and the Israelites face an overwhelmingly vast and superior foe.  One of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's favorite verses comes from King Jehoshaphat's prayer in the face of this looming disastrous battle: "O our God, will you not execute judgment against the great horde that is coming against us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You."  (2Chron.20:12)  That's the prayer that never fails--the prayer to an Almighty God who fights with and for His children when they come to Him in dependence and trust.
     So Lord, "We do not know what to do..." about this cancer... about this mental illness... about this addiction... about this sinful habit... about this financial struggle... about this broken relationship... about this prodigal... about this impossible place in which our loved one is trapped... "but our eyes are on You."  On You--the omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, all wise, all loving, all good, Beginning and End--Lord of the Universe for whom "Nothing is impossible" (Luke 1:37)
      Thank You for the reminder that, just as You told King Jehoshaphat, so You tell us: "Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's." (2Chron.20:15)  And You must, and will, win the battle.  Help us this day to put on Your armor, to keep fighting, and to keep trusting. Save us, Father, from discouragement and despair, from fear and fretting, when the combat is fierce or prolonged. You know our frames are weak and but dust, so we look to You as our hope, our consolation, our strength, our sustenance.  O Lord, keep us fighting, keep us praying, keep us faithful as we fight this battle which is not really ours, but Yours.  To our glorious, powerful, battle-winning Lord, be all the glory forever.