Endurance through Battles
I have been through many battles in my life. I have been
through things in my life that were meant to break me and even kill me a few
times. While I have been broken many times, I have never been killed. I know
that I am not alone in my feelings about the battles in our lives. Many of us
go through times in our life where we struggle and we don’t physically see God
standing there telling us that he is going to take care of us. We often also
ask the question: Why me God? Why does God allow this? I recently read a story
about a Christian singer who no longer believes in God. I was not shocked. I
have been through this myself. This singer had the question of: If God is real,
why does he allow pain and suffering. I asked that question once. Well to be
honest, I probably asked in many times. I remember being in the midst of a war
in the middle East. I was exhausted, hungry, lonely, depressed, and riddled
with anxiety. None of us were ever 100% rested. The constant state of vigilance
was taking it’s tole on everyone. We had people dying every week. The days that
we weren’t taking casualties, we were making casualties. There was always
someone in the area dying. Not all of the civilians around us were enemy
combatants. There were also people around us that had no intention of harming
us or anyone else. I remember going to visit a local hospital with the civil
affairs team in our area. While I was there I saw child after child injured.
These children had been casualties of war. They had been shot and or blown up
before they had even reached puberty. I remember watching a little boy struggle
to breath while he was missing his left arm completely and about half of his
right arm. He ended up passing while we were there. That was the day that I
asked: If there is a God, why does he allow the death of innocents? I had no
clue what true belief was. I did not have the dedicated faith that I have now. I have recently read through Exodus 17. Again.
Well for the 4th time. The word is alive and active. Every time that
we go through scripture the Lord has this amazing ability to teach us something
different than the last time that we read it. We just have to pay attention. In
Exodus 17 we see the Israelites defeat the Amaleks. Moses is standing on a hill
holding up the staff of God. As long as Moses hold up the staff, the Israelites
overcome the Amaleks. When the staff drops the Amaleks overcome the Israelites.
If you think “Just hold it up!” I challenge you to hold up a staff in front of
you and see how long your body lasts. Hold it up as if the lives of everyone
you know and love depend on it. How long would you last? How fast would you
give up? When Moses starts to get tired, two of his brothers hold up his arms.
Aaron and Hur. When he gets even more tired he rests on a rock. There are times
in this battle when Israelites are dying and there are times in this battle
when Amaleks are dying. It doesn’t say anywhere in the text that Moses asked
God why. The battle was rough and tiring but Moses never gave up. Moses held up
the staff of God and eventually prevailed. My questions for you are this:
Are you trying to fight battles alone?
What do your brothers (or sister) do when you are losing?
What do you rest on when you are tired?
What battle has the Lord brought you through?
Further Reading: Hebrews 11