Are You Battle-weary Or Battle-strengthened?
I was going to say the last several months have been quite a battle, but honestly, the last five years in Costa Rica have been a battle. What’s been the effect on me?
Without a doubt, I’m stronger.
Oh, it’s not been easy. I’ve felt discouraged, anxious, defeated, angry, hopeless, you name it. Battle is no picnic.
It’s easy to go through battle without it having His intended effect on us. He is building something into us. Imagine we went to the gym and complained because it’s so hard. Well, you could have it easy and just sit in the gym waiting area.
One veteran missionary told me there are two kinds of missionaries: those going through a hard time and those who will.
I want to change that to say there are two kinds of missionaries: those who grow stronger, faith-filled, and more reliant on the Lord through hard times, and those who give up in hard times.
The same is true for those in ministry. (or shoot, just following Jesus!) We will have hard times. It’s one-half of His promise to us. The other half is that we can be full of cheer because we have the Spirit of the Overcomer in us!
But how do we not only survive but thrive during hard times?
Have you ever noticed that we’re called to do a lot of “standing” in scripture?
Scan through Ephesians 6:10-17 and look for the command to stand.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
I used to think that what I needed to do was just “put on the armor.” But before, during, and after the dressing is the standing. Our part is to remain, to steady, to stand.
Back to the picture of the gym, those of us who have worked out know the importance of the stance. Your posture while working out can be the difference between strengthening and injury. Whoa. Your posture during hard times will be the difference between strengthening and injury.
We can each be lulled into taking the victim mentality, saying the little man can’t get ahead, the hits keep coming, or this is all so unfair. IT IS! BUT we are those who overcome because Jesus has already overcome the world!
So what do you do?
Keep showing up. Keep praying. Keep worshiping. Keep reading scripture. Keep fellowshipping. Keep standing. And then…
I’ll close this year of Fertilizers with a verse from a song that occasionally goes through my mind:
Sometimes it’s good to look back down
We’ve come so far; we’ve gained such ground
But joy is not in where we’ve been
Joy is Who’s waiting at the end.
There is a road inside of you
Inside of me, there is one too
No stumbling pilgrim in the dark
The road to Zion’s in your heart
Take stock of what you’ve gone through this year and how the Lord has strengthened you in His battle training. It’s rarely fun, but it is worth it. And friends, know that you’re not alone in it!
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
ps. Yes, I realize that the picture at the top is not of a battle, but one weapon to use when fighting a battle is humor. If you don’t already know this Nate Bargatze as General Washington SNL skit, just google it.
Are You Battle-weary Or Battle-strengthened? (Nº 414)
