War
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10, NIV)
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes feel weak. As Christians, we are fighting in a war. We are facing many trials and tribulations that are pulling us in different directions. Some are to make us stronger and others are to teach us lessons. When we are fighting in these battles we need to remind ourselves and our fellow Christian brother and sisters that we need to stand tall with Jesus, while the world rejects Him. The enemy doesn’t want us to complete God’s mission. The enemy wants to destroy us and make us believe that we have no plan and no purpose and that God has forgotten us. Aren’t those lies that we have sometimes believed?
Life is not always easy. We all face different trials, and we all face things that affect us differently. We need to acknowledge, that our life as a war! In 2 Corinthians Paul describes our lives as a war. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6, NIV) While we are facing the many strongholds in our lives we must not get tangled up with the worldly views and perspectives. The world wants you to find happiness in things of this world. We should not get caught up in wanting and desiring successes. We don’t need to pursue our own happiness and our own successes. Our energy and time should be fixated on the Lord and what He wants us to accomplish as His people. We are a part of His army!
What are some ways we can ready ourselves for the war? How can we protect ourselves in the fight against the spiritual forces that we encounter in lives? It says in Ephesians, “ 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.” (Ephesians 6:10-13, NIV) We need to put on the full armor of God! We need to ready ourselves and protect ourselves from the dark world. We face many battles daily and need to be able to stand firm in Jesus. We need to stand and face the war, head on!
Take courage dear friends, when we are weak we are strong. It says in 2 Corinthians, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10, NIV) We need to be happy when we are facing the difficult things because I feel in these moments God uses us the most. I think God uses us to show His glory and His power! When you think something is not possible, it is in those times, that God shines the brightest through a tricky situation. When you feel weak, bare your soul to Jesus and don’t ever give up fighting in the war!