Two Struggles
Are you struggling? Good!
A struggle means you are making progress.
A struggle means a breakthrough is coming!
Jarring words, yes! Here’s the backstory…
My mind swirled with seemingly impossible situations. The resulting heaviness landed hard, coupled with the overwhelming stack of projects waiting on my desk. I dragged myself onward through my work. Without warning, it seemed, I was in tears. I swiped away the salty flow on my shirt sleeve and pressed on. The tears continued to fall as I worked. “What is going on?” I thought.
I reached for my phone and texted a praying friend. My thumbs tripped over one another as I typed out my cry for help. “I am struggling in so many ways. Please pray for me.”
Without planning to do so, I wandered into the bedroom, curled into the fetal position on the bed, and tossed my phone on the bed beside me. I lay there weeping.
My phone buzzed; my friend assured me she would pray for me. Then she said, “A struggle means progress; it means a breakthrough is coming.” For a moment, I was taken aback, then it made perfect sense. A struggle means we are pushing hard against the opposing forces. It means we are making forward progress, however dogged, despite the obstacles in our path.
I was pushing hard to make forward progress as I sorted through the heavy issues weighing upon me. I knew the truth and was advancing in accordance with it. However, I was encountering opposition from the outside and from within. The Apostle Paul explains the war from without in this way:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
I was pursuing truth, however, the evil one scoffed, sneeringly pointing to the seemingly insurmountable obstacles blocking my path intending to discourage me. Would I choose to believe Truth and push forward despite hurdles, or would I agree with my adversary and crumple to the ground in defeat?
Truth urges me to trade worry and anxious stewing in favor of trusting God as He’s revealed in Scripture. It points me toward the practice of prayer while resting in His sovereign wisdom. Callously, the enemy of my soul cackles, niggling me toward the maddening merry-go-round of worry. Again, the Lord’s words come to my rescue:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9
Truth says the Lord of All Creation will stoop down, tenderly and powerfully helping me stand strong and remain resolute in daunting situations. The adversary calls me silly and duped for trusting an unseen God and resting in the sovereign wisdom of a God Who fails to remove my difficulties and deliver a life of ease.
Truth declares there is nothing impossible for God while the Evil One wryly chuckles, calling me naive for believing fairy tales. Will I lean into the everlasting arms of my Savior, while standing firmly upon the bedrock of truth? Will I choose to believe truths that don’t feel true? If so, I will be hurled into a spiritual struggle.
For evil will not allow us to pursue a life of truth unopposed.
To be engaged in the Christian life is to struggle.
The opposition we face from the outside can possess positive elements if we grow stronger though them. At the same time, another battle arises from within. Our fallen nature rises with a vengeance when we choose to walk in truth, for the enemy will stop at nothing to spur on our demise. This battle, however is only won through surrender to the truth. When believers engage the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit ignites the very words, making them come alive, transforming us. If we submit to the Spirit’s purifying fire, He renews us, cutting away fleshly desires, forming us to be like Christ. Should we wrestle against Him and His regenerating work, a spiritual struggle ensues. Perhaps we become offended at His audacity to suggest a course-correction, or balk at His authority to make ameliorations without our consent. Only when we submit to His authority, is spiritual flourish realized. Paul spoke of the battle like this:
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” Romans 7:21-25
In light of Scripture’s truth, my friend’s response was correct; a spiritual struggle signifies spiritual life. When we aim to live a life marked by truth, opposition rises from the outside and from within. However, truth stands taller and stronger than its opposition. Though the evil one sneers, name-calls, and opposes, truth prevails, giving us the freedom to declare with the Apostle Paul,
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39
Yes, my friends, though we face opposition from the outside and from within, we are more than conquerors in Jesus' name! Stand firm!