A Battle Won

'Pardon me Lord, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Mannaseh, and I am the least in my family.' Judges 6:15

Sometimes life can be hard.

That is probably a big understatement depending on where you stand today. It deals us tough choices to make on a daily basis, which may impact our future on those around us.


At the end of the day, drained and tired, it almost seems as we geared for battle that morning and went to fight. Some come home defeated with a tattered armor, others come home victorious.
All our battles are different as our God given purposes are not the same, yet one thing we have in common and that is who is leading our fight.

It seems easier to stand back and cripple our abilities with our insecurities of who we are. It seems easier to give up before the battle even begins. It is easier to look around us and see everyone else equipped better than ourselves.

Yet, the Lord's voice is encouraging if you will lend an ear to it. He has promised to give us victory over our self - doubt, selfishness, timidness, anxiety, grudge-filled hearts, painful pasts.

With the Lord, you can put self-doubt about what you can accomplish for His glory to rest. Failure is not an option when He is fighting by your side.
A heart of selflessness can be defeated when you cling to the most selfless love there is and allow for it to abound your life.
His overwhelming peace will gain victory over your timidness and anxiety in raising a flag for He who died and left everything for your life. His mercies will give you a loud voice to shout to the end of the earths how He loves.
The Lords' healing hand wipes tears, stains, scars, brokenness to lift us up higher than eagles wings and soar to things that we've never even imagined.

When the Lord looks at us and gives us the privilege to give Him glory through our life, don't timidly look to the ground. Know who is fighting by your side, and give a victorious shout. Stand up and face the day head on, He will never leave your side. We may not be big in strenght and probably one of the weakest. The good news is we don't have to rely on ourselves, but on Him.

Practice Makes Brighter

'The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.' Proverbs 4:18


We've heard it before: 'practice makes perfect'

What sometimes seems as something that we'll never be able to learn by heart becomes easier with time as we practice. It slowly but steadily becomes second nature to us.

Although, the Lord's word is full of wisdom and goodness for our lives, we can sometimes struggle with following His ways and listening to His will. In our thoughts, His will seems difficult to follow when things don't make sense. We look at our present situation, and begin to move the chess pieces according to what we see fit, according to what would make us the least uncomfortable.

The Lord says the path we are on as we follow Him is narrow, and as we begin to let go of our will and hang on to His, it may seem like a small dot of light in the darkness we've been dwelling in. Our footsteps as we begin, will be wobbly like that of a newborn calf trying to find steady steps. With constant attempts to stand tall, our wobbly steps will get firmer and stronger. Our steps towards following the Lord will soon be strides and leaps towards His loving will.

It seems difficult to listen and follow at first, but when our focus in on Him and His loving will for our lives, the Master will teach us to walk, run, and leap towards Him. It's a daily exercise that we must engage in by reading His word, spending time in prayer, worshipping His name. Constant worship is what transforms our desire to do our will into yearning His. Suddenly, we will shine like the light of day for all to see. We will reflect His being to the world. We will embody who He is and what we are made for; to give Him glory towards the ends of the earth.