There are days, even weeks when I can feel like I am playing defense in the game of life. I get into survival mode. My prayers can expose my frame of mind as they tend to focus on me and my desire for comfort. I ask God to, just overcome x, not think of y, and get through my week. I realized, these actions and thoughts do not reflect or align with the faith I profess. Functioning in this perspective is exhausting and just leaves me anxious. It also leads me to feel discouraged or overwhelmed; it exposes my self-reliance. I want to survive my work out, accomplish x professionally to get to y, force a change in my behavior by my own will, fix someone’s problem instead of supporting them while they work through them. I forget whose team I am on.
Lk14:31-32Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
The above scripture is often used to illustrate the futility of going up against God. Our armies do not compare against his and it is better therefore for us to make peace with God and give up everything to follow him than continue to appose him. However, for those of us who have made the decision to follow him I think it is important to remember that when we read this passage we are part of God’s army. I am following the King with twenty thousand and it is the opposition that cannot stand up against us. I am still reminded and called to give up everything but everything is worth nothing compared to what I receive when I am on his side.
2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Majority of my battles take place in my head. It is those battles that tend to be the hardest. There is a spiritual war being waged but we get to chose to face it from the perspective of being under attack and having to defend ourselves or forcefully charging in ready to demolish whatever we encounter.
Strongholds are defensive structures, where one retreats to when the opposition is overpowering them. In the passage above it is us who are on the offense, it is us who are charging the fight. When I shift my thinking and remember this perspective I am so much more confident in God and reliant on his power. I no longer try to defend myself against this world, I am conquering it for him. I am not trying to survive my workout or make it through, I am mastering it. I am not trying to get by or accomplish something for self-provision in my work and life, but instead I am surpassing expectations and going beyond what I thought was possible because my reliance and confidence is in the one I follow. I can focus on others needs as he takes care of mine.
Rm8:37-39 in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angles nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power […], nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We need to remember that when we are up against, what seems like insurmountable odds, we are not up against them alone. In these moments he too is with us, in fact he is leading the charge. Don’t get me wrong there will be set backs and some fights may result in battle wounds. As I am taking greater risks with my mind, body and heart I am perfectly aware that there is a lot more at stake. I have fallen and experienced setbacks. I have gotten hurt. When I make mistakes I tend to make them big, but my recovery time has been a lot quicker than in the past. I am quicker to repent, forgive, heal, overcome disappointment and move forward. For example, in a recent workout, I attempted to continually jump on to a 20” box without holding on for support; on a given jump I missed the box, riding my shins against it to the ground. It hurt, it was risky, and a part of me feared the box and did not want to attempt this again, but I will. If I don’t keep trying I will never master it. In the same way I can make mistakes in my relationships but if I don’t continue to try to take the necessary risks to change, be vulnerable and give I’ll never allow God to use me for a higher purpose which could benefit me and others.
Dan3:17-18 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.
God is able to save when I am walking through fire but even if He chooses a different path for a given time He is still able to save. His plan is better. He is still leading the charge and is still worth following, even if I catch some fire in the process of the battle. If I am on his team my heart and my ultimate plans should be for him. When my plans do not align with his he will make it clear and always leave it up to me to choose his way or my own. It’s really important for me to remember that when I chose my own I switch sides.
2Tim2:21b he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
Over the past few weeks I have tried to focus on this major perspective change. I had to ask myself, and often, do I believe in God or do I believe God? This also led to a major strategic change. I remembered that if and when I chose to believe God vs. merely believe in him, I approach life and what it throws at me from the offensive not the defensive. I am empowered to do more than I thought was possible and hopefully in those moments people around me see the power of God instead of seeing me.
2Cor4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.