Losing the battle doesn’t mean you’ve lost the war
This past week I fought with the enemy and took a nasty blow to my side. I recoiled with pain and disappointment as I tried to cover my wound and find a rock to hide under. After the pain came the anger. I thought God had already won the battle and we were traveling back home, but instead, it felt like I was still stuck in this gruesome battle. Nothing had changed… I was still just a casualty of battle…
Ironically, amid this struggle, I stumbled upon an album by “I Am They” titled ‘Trial & Triumph.” In that album, the song “Look At How Far We’ve Come” came at the perfect time. We can’t allow our mistakes to cover the growth God has established in us. In this post, I want you to see that God doesn’t ask you to be right; he wants you to get back up and know you are loved. Before continuing, I’d like you to listen to the song:
It’s hard for me to believe that my road is the same one I started on. I went from incredible intimacy with God to treating him as a side piece.
Rather than remaining alone, I decided to see a friend to discuss it. This vulnerability is not an easy decision, but it’s a must for us to move forward. He pointed out a few incredible things I want to highlight:
The Enemy Attacks Twice Every Time
When we are attacked, we have two battles to fight. The first is the battle of temptation. We know God will give us a way out of temptation, but we aren’t perfect and fail. God’s grace not only forgives us for that failure but gives us a chance to stand up and try again.
The second attack comes after you fall into temptation. The enemy tells you you failed and shouldn’t get back up. He wants to keep you down, so you can’t be the prince or princess you were designed to be. You don’t operate in power or walk in authority when you’re down.
This wasn’t true for me until now. I would fail and feel like I had to wait a certain amount of time to try again and that I had to have a certain amount of time before God would allow me to try again. This is Bull and a lie of the devil. Get up immediately.
You are a child of the King, and you do not stay down when you’ve been hit. My friend told me this, and for some reason, it just clicked. I left, went home, and started rejoicing and worshiping. The overwhelming sense of joy took over my body. At that point, I knew God wanted me to move forward. It was a speed bump, not a wall. Don’t stop; keep moving towards God.
Two Questions Men Need Answering
The second thing I took away from our time together came from John Eldredge’s book, Fathered By God. My friend informed me that Eldredge says there are two questions every man needs to answer. “Am I loved” and “Do I have what It takes?”
My life has been a constant search for both. I have attempted to find those answers in relationships and business and even rejected the need for them. And yet something deep within me calls them back. This past year was the first year where I recognized what it meant to “have what it takes.”
It’s not easy, and I have not experienced that fullness. But thanks to my willingness to be vulnerable and a close friend who was able to be loving and honest, I’m on my way.
The Road You’re On Will Have Trials And Triumphs…Remember The Victories
Throughout the Old Testament, we see cairns and alters created to help the people remember where God has brought them out of. We need to figure out what these look like for us. When we hit that speed bump, we must remember what God has already brought us through. Remembering God’s faithful is a powerful opportunity.
If you get anything out of this post, I hope it’s this: Don’t stop, put your life on hold, or give up because of failure. God’s grace is more than enough to overcome your mistakes. Try again, change a few things, ask him to reveal your weaknesses…but whatever you do, do not stop pursuing him. The road you’re on will take you to many places, but you can keep driving through the bad ones.