trials and battles

Trials & Battles
4/23/06
Trials and Battles . . . how do we know when to submit under the mighty hand of God, and when to take authority and fight? I’ve wrestled with this question for most of my Christian walk, and it has often frustrated my prayer life. Do I pray for God’s intervention, or do I walk with Him through the fire? After all, our faith is tried in the fire (1 Peter 1:6,7). And if our faith does not become like gold, we are counseled to “buy gold” from the Lord (Rev 3:18). Yet some trials can give the feeling of being defeated instead of being made richer in Him.

In my prayer time for the last few days the topic of trials and battles has been the discussion. This morning the Lord answered me, saying “We look at victory differently. I don’t look at them (trials and battles) as different things”. The Lord pointed out that Jesus’ biggest victory came after the cross.

Since Jesus is our example, when things seem to be a contradiction (we have behaved rightly but there is no victory), let us look at what preceded His biggest victory, the cross. Before Jesus died as our sacrifice,
The people who sang His praises yelled for His crucifixion
His disciples scattered
His one and only “door” to escape this ordeal was slammed shut when Barabbas was chosen to go free
He was tortured physically, and reviled against
He actually went to hell before he ascended

If I saw these things happening in my life, I wouldn’t think that a triumphant victory over my enemy was soon to come! Yet Jesus remained true and obtained a greater victory than His disciples had known possible. Now Jesus is the Name above all names. He holds the greatest authority.

We know that, even though Jesus didn’t need to be refined through the cross, he was tested and suffered. From this we learn that we too may pass through awful trials that seem as a punishment, but are not. Until Jesus is the only authority on the earth there will be hardships, afflictions, adversity, and death.

The biggest comfort in our trials, and the greatest weapon in our battles is God’s Word. Following Jesus’ example again, during the time of His crucifixion He
Defended the purpose of God’s Word, bringing understanding of the need for His suffering before His crucifixion, and how it fulfilled scripture, afterward (road to Emaus).
During the great contradiction of going to hell, Jesus preached the Word of God to the captives there, setting them free (Eph 4;8).
He obtained His inheritance, His brothers and sisters. We were promised to Jesus in God’s Word (Heb 2:13).
He received greater authority. And just as He overcame and sat down with His father in His throne, we also, when we overcome, will sit down with Jesus in His throne (Rev 3:21).

What I see is that Jesus had a defense, a work to do, an inheritance to obtain, and a greater authority to receive. Perhaps the cross we bear during our lives is more important than we think. And, if we expect God to be glorified at some point during our trial, wouldn’t we bear it better? Jesus looked forward to the glory that awaited Him, and it gave Him endurance (Heb 12:2,3). We can trust God to have good waiting for us in and after our trials.

Our defense is God’s Word, and His purposes in our lives are worth defending. We also can continue to hold out God’s Word to others and minister to them during out trials. Often, it’s in our trials that we gain a greater understanding of God’s Word and its application to our lives. Those things appointed to us as inheritances are received as a result of our overcoming (Rev 21:7). And we receive greater authority as a result of our faithfulness.

I hope this lesson helps you as you face contradictions in your own lives this season; times when the good you’ve striven to accomplish seem to meet with adversity, and the searching prayers of your heart bring no answers as to how you caused such a predicament. Let us look forward to the Christ being glorified in our lives, and we becoming transformed as we stand in faith in the work He will bring to perfection in us all. Amen.