There are days and weeks and years for intellectualism, for debates, for theological philosophical studies.
Then there are days to fight. In this case, it has been a week.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven….a time to be silent and a time to speak….a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3 (excerpts)
Possibly one of the most well-known passages of the Bible. There is a time for everything.
This week. I had questions I was needing to answer. I was ignoring them. I didn’t know what my ‘plan’ was going to be. Was it time to realize that a whim was just that, a whim? Was it time to give up and apply my time some other way? No, not really a pity party. Just…time to reassess. Weighing all aspects, praying for God to guide. Just…opening my heart. I can be impulsive, at times. Other times…I balance all aspects of an idea, deciding which one will lead me correctly.
Today. I had someone falling apart in front of me. Life has disintegrated in the past several months for them. And admittedly they’ve handled it poorly, unhealthfully. They’ve trusted me with half-truths and hopefully some full-truths. And they’d slipped up, breaking trust. I am disappointed, exhausted, knowing that I have two choices in front of me. I’ve dared to bring up Christ before and we’ve spoken of religion in a superficial manner. Oh God, hear me, what do I do?
I chose to engage, I chose to fight.
I chose to lift my voice and request to be heard. I chose to believe that my whim was God-breathed and as long as He wants me to participate and share and provide inspiration then I will apply myself. I chose to believe that “He who began a good work in me is able to complete it”. I chose to fight.
I chose to take a risky leap and point to Jesus as a means of healing for helplessness and brokenness. I chose to identify and condemn the Enemy who creates lies that are easy to believe. I chose to grasp a hand and ask to pray. And I chose to beg God for protection and healing for this person. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). I chose to fight.
Does it feel like you’re in a fight? Do you feel bruised? Do you feel exhausted? Sometimes God takes us and puts us in a place to heal, to rest, to spiritually rejuvenate as Elijah did while a wicked king was looking for him. God provided food for him, as He provides Spiritual nourishment for us. But then God called Elijah to go confront the very king trying to kill him, called him to fight the priests and beliefs in a false god….and God calls us to fight. Calls us to be bold and willing to take a risk. For His Name sake. Never for our own name…when we choose to fight there inevitably are battle lines that are drawn. But when we fight for our God, He says He will fight with us.
“‘ Because he loves me,’ says the LORD, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name'”
Psalm 91:14
I chose to fight.
