Fighting My Battles the Right Way
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START WITH HEART
Lord, as You speak please help me listen with my whole heart and Holy Spirit please meet me today and make me more like Jesus.
Romans 4:18-22
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Many years ago, Marcus stood in front of the church and wielded a massive sword. His challenge to us was to really use the word of God as a weapon to fight our battles with. Just like that big sword, our bibles could line our bookshelves or bedside tables but never be used as they were intended. This REALLY challenged me!
I had just completed three years of bible school. I knew much about God’s word and really loved the bible but I wasn’t fighting my battles WITH God’s word. Something in my heart changed and for the first time I actually understood why the bible is called the ‘sword of the Spirit’. I started to live my life differently!
This passage in Romans 4 has been one of those promises from God’s word that I’ve wielded in many battles. At one of these times, I even took my eyeliner and wrote this scripture all over my full length mirror. I would be reminded of this promise every time I looked at my reflection and it became a weapon in my battle.
Like Abraham, I was faced by a situation that seemed “hopeless” to my human eyes! I was so encouraged by the statement “he faced the fact”. I had thought that in order to have faith you shouldn’t even really acknowledge that there is a problem – that you just have to have faith and trust! Yet as I read about Abaraham, I came to realize that it is good to see the reality of the situation. Abraham was not oblivious to the fact that he was old and that Sarah’s womb could not bear children. He FACED the facts BUT He did not WAVER through unbelief regarding the promises of God! WOW! That really encouraged me to see my situation in a new light. It encouraged me to go back to the word of God and see what God was saying to me. I also went through my journals and was reminded of the many promises that God had given me.
Most of those promises were straight out of the word of God and I began to meditate and study these! God’s word is amazing and it is hard to describe what it feels like when you are given a promise from His word to hold onto. You just cling to it with both hands! Reading it over and over! Praying through it! That is when God’s word becomes a weapon in your hands!
When I became discouraged, I would look at my mirror and be reminded that God is faithful to His promises. As it says in Romans “…being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.”
Let us read the word and be strengthened in our faith! I am sure that Abraham would often stand outside at night and gaze up at the stars and remember that God had promised Him children!
Let us give glory to God in the good times as well as in the times of waiting, the times when the reality of the situation would want to overwhelm us. We serve a faithful God who loves us! He deserves ALL honour and glory!
JOURNALING QUESTIONS:
- What are the facts that you are facing at the moment? What are you trusting God for?
- What is God saying to you through His WORD?
Thank you Lord that you are faithful! Thank you, that I can trust You in every situation! Lord, open my eyes to see the truth in your word and give me hope in the difficult situations that I face! May you receive ALL the glory!
WORSHIP SONG:
Promises (feat. Joe L Barnes andNaomi Raine) – Maverick City/TRIBL
by Kathy van Laren
