Fighting Our Battles

Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed . . . with my responsibilities, with my personal struggles, with the heartache in the world and the difficulties faced by others. It is in those moments that the Lord gently reminds me that I was never meant to face my battles alone . . . that He is there with me in the midst of them, and He has a purpose in them. When we face any battle, we must:

Run to the Lord

Our tendency is to wander off on our own, to figure out and “manage” our lives by ourselves. We were never meant to live this way. Whenever we face a new challenge or struggle, we are safest when we run to the Lord and proclaim our dependence on Him. He has the power and resources to help us. “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2, NKJV). Since the Lord made heaven and earth and rules over them, He certainly can help us in every way.

Rely on the Lord

God tells us in His Word that He allows certain enemies to come against us, in order to teach us how to fight our battles (Judges 3:2). We would be weak indeed if we did not learn how to exercise our spiritual muscles. Our challenges give us the opportunity to grow stronger in our faith, to build our reliance on and love of God. When Abraham faced his challenges, he refused to become weak in faith (Romans 4:19); “yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:20-21, NASB). Bottom line: Abraham chose to believe God, “and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).

Whatever battle we face, we can go one of two ways: faith and courage (in God) or fear and discouragement (by looking at ourselves, our situation). Yet, we are told, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). So when we face fear or discouragement in our battles, we can know those things are not from God. They can serve to remind us that we need to look to and call on God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who helps us operate in His power, love, and thoughts. The Holy Spirit trains us on the battlefield to say no to fear and discouragement and yes to faith and courage.

We can learn and grow under the training of the Holy Spirit as we choose to believe and receive encouragement from what God says . . . about us, and about Himself. We are valiant warriors when the Lord is with us (Judges 6:12).

Let the Lord reveal Himself

In those overwhelming battles, when we are depleted of our own resources and abilities, those are the places where God loves to show up and show off. Those are the places where He can display His glory. And the world needs to see that . . . so others can be drawn to Him.

“But we have this treasure [God’s Spirit dwelling inside of us] in earthen vessels [our physical, weak bodies], so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] of God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:7, NASB and AMP).

When we run to the Lord and rely on the Lord, then others have the opportunity to see the Lord at work and to seek Him too. God told Paul and He tells us, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9). And Paul replied, “’Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong’” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NASB). May we say the same, and may we allow Jesus to be seen in us in whatever battles we face.

Question: What battle are you facing right now, and how can we pray for you? Comment at the link below.

Visit Susan’s website: susanjaneking.com

Susan Jane King

Nothing is Impossible with God!

Eighteen years ago, doctors told us our son Patrick was autistic, mentally retarded, and might not ever speak. A few weeks ago, Patrick graduated magna cum laude from Pfeiffer University. He sang “Corner of the Sky” at commencement, which is all about finding your place in this world. Those in attendance gave him a standing ovation, and the president of the university cried.

Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). The Lord has the final say about how things will go, and we can trust Him to work out everything from a position of power and authority and a heart of love and compassion.

It is hard to see that sometimes when we are in the middle of difficult or even overwhelming circumstances. But we can trust the heart of God, and we can choose to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). It’s in that process of walking by faith and not by sight that we get to discover more about our loving Lord, and we get to open our lives to His perfect plans. That’s where He moves to do the impossible, and where we fall on our faces in awe.

I know this because I have been there. After all these years, I got to see what God was doing as I watched my son sing at graduation and receive a college diploma. Yes, the accomplishments are amazing, compared to the world’s predictions. Yet, the most blessed part was learning to choose faith over fear and discouragement during countless challenges and trials . . . and in the process, learning more about and drawing closer to a Lord who is eternally faithful and good.

We can count on these truths when we are overwhelmed:

God is able.

God makes over 8,000 promises to us in the Bible. He says He works everything together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). He says He brings beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3). He promises we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). He also tells us He has magnified His Word according to His name (Psalm 138:2). In other words, what He says is on the same level as who He is; He is able to keep His promises to us because He is God! We can put our confidence in what He says because He said it.

When we are overwhelmed, we have a choice to make: Will we trust what God says, or will we go with feelings or worldly messages that would lead us in a different direction. Every overwhelming place is an opportunity to choose faith, to believe that God “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20, NASB).

God is enough.

When I first found out Patrick had autism, I cried out to God. I told Him how life was going to be so hard for Patrick and how that broke my heart. I told Him I didn’t feel equipped to raise a special needs child. I told Him, “I can’t do it!” That’s when I heard Him whisper to my heart, “You’re right, you can’t. But WE can. Will you trust Me?” I realized at that moment I was feeling so broken because I wasn’t trusting Him. I was looking at myself and my resources instead of my loving Father, who could meet my every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

God is enough. “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32, NASB). When the Lord is on our side, we have everything and anything we will ever need. We have HIM.

God has a plan.

The secret: It’s not about us. The truth: God allows us to experience the overwhelming so that we and others can learn that He overwhelms the overwhelming. He is great and worthy of all praise. That verse in Ephesians 3:20 is followed by, “to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:21). The word glory means to manifest [show, display], to give an estimation of. It carries the idea of making God known, allowing Him to be seen.

The impossible place, that overwhelming circumstance, is where Jesus can be seen and experienced by a world that needs Him. When we yield up those impossible places to Him, not only do we draw closer to Him, but He also can use us to draw all men to Himself (John 12:32). That’s the stuff that matters, the stuff that lasts long after the overwhelming places fade away.

Patrick and I now have the great blessing of telling others what God has done. Through our book Optimism for Autism, speaking engagements, and personal encounters with others, we can share with others that: God is able. God is enough. God has a plan.

Whisper those words to your heart the next time you are overwhelmed.

Here is a link to Patrick singing “Corner of the Sky” at the Pfeiffer University commencement. As you watch it, remember, “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37, NASB).

Please feel free to share this blog and video link to encourage others about the God of hope (Romans 15:13).

Question: How has the Lord shown you that nothing is impossible with Him? Comment at the link below.

Visit Susan’s website: susanjaneking.com

Susan Jane King