Greetings, sisters. I trust that God has blessed you this
week, giving you strength and wisdom, and accomplishing His work through your
labors. The results are not always visible on a daily, weekly, or even monthly
basis, but God is performing His work, even when we can't discern measurable
advances. What you do today matters for eternity.
While we all live in the day-to-day, missionaries have to
maintain a long-term view. Their commitment is long-term, their investment is
long-term, and the expected results are long-term. The best motivations and the
best rewards are eternal in nature. While life is made up of a long series of
days, I am captivated with the idea of what will happen (by the grace of God)
when I reach heaven, when those days are finally ended, and a summary statement
encapsulates all they represent. In particular, I long to hear God say,
"Well done, good and faithful servant."
As the apostle Paul summarized his own life, he gave three
powerful statements that fit that same tone. The first of them is "I have
fought a good fight" (II Timothy 4:7).
I'm not really very fond of fighting. As a child, I didn't
fight much with my siblings, and I endeavored to avoid conflict. I still prefer
to avoid arguments or disputes. I'm not even a very competitive person
(anymore). I realize people are different, but in general fighting is a
"guy" thing. Men can get excited about fights, aggression, and brutal
athletic contests. They can be caught up in the drama of war and battles. They
can have a strong surge of resolve that motivates them to fight for their
families and for their countries.
Women, not so much. We prefer peace and stability. We try to
avoid conflict, and we rarely go looking for fights. In certain realms, that is
okay. In the Christian realm, however, we don't have that option. We are in a
fight whether we like it or not. The Bible says we have an adversary, who like
a roaring lion, prowls about seeking to devour us. Our battle is not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the rulers of the
darkness of this world. We can't allow Satan easy victories by neglecting to
fight.
This is no small foe we fight and no puny enemy. This is a
major battle, and it matters immensely. In fact, we would not consider it a
mere battle. In reality, it is a long-term war, one that ebbs and flows, but
one that endures for years. Satan has a strong foothold in this world, and his forces
are at work. Evil reigns, and its influence is evident around us every day,
sometimes in frightening ways. Until we are called home to heaven, we are in
this battle, and we must fight.
We must fight tenaciously. We can't back down, and we can't
give up. What makes the battle so challenging is that it doesn't end. It isn't
too hard to muster our strength and resolve for a short time and for brief
bursts. Our emotion or adrenaline can kick in to push us through an intense
situation. What is hard is to maintain our vigilance and our resistance when
the battle stretches on. When the battle has left us bruised and bleeding,
exhausted and weary, it is hard to push on into another battle. It is
challenging to face another situation or another day.
This is when the world would tell us to dig deep, to find
strength inside us, and to show that women can't be conquered. The world is so
wrong. While we certainly can't lie down and quit, the strength to endure is
not in us. It is in God. He can help us to continue on when our strength is
gone. When our resources are exhausted, God can help us to rise up on wings as
eagles, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. Yes, we can be
completely worn out, feeling that we can't do another day, but God can
strengthen us in our souls where we most need it. He can help us to endure. He
can allow us to fight for one more day.
In addition to fighting tenaciously, we must also fight
wisely. Wisdom lies in knowing that the strength is not in us and that we don't
have the answers. Wisdom lies in recognizing the spiritual nature of the
conflict, and in remembering that the weapons of our warfare are also
spiritual. Those weapons are divinely powerful for the pulling down of
strongholds. The armor is not our own; it is all of God. The defense is found
in God's truth, God's righteousness, God's salvation, God's gospel. The offense
is found in God's Word, as we follow Jesus' example of relying on God's written
truth.
Interestingly, because the battle is spiritual, it is not
our bodies that grow most weary. It is our minds and our spirits. That is where
the battles are won or lost. We must renew our minds with God's truth. We must
refresh our spirits with His Word and allow Him to restore our souls. We cannot
allow our emotions to get the better of us, and we cannot allow discouragement
to drag us down. There are opportunities every day for us to be defeated and to
give up in the battle, but God is able to give the victory for each day.
Because the ultimate victory lies in the future, the skirmishes will continue,
but we cannot give up. With God's help and His enabling, we must fight a good
fight. No surrender! Stay in the fight!
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holtmember at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
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