A current revelation

There is a song that has become my anthem. The lyrics so grip my heart that I can’t help but worship. I love worship, it pulls me away from myself and reminds me who is holding my life in the palm of His hands. I find the same pull when I spend time by the ocean, it helps me feel small and reminds me in a beautiful way that my God is so big and He makes all things good. So this song, well it is actually one line that I am holding onto and playing on repeat.

“So when I fight I’ll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God the battle belongs to you.”

Its simple but to me this simplicity is what makes it so profound. By nature I am a peacemaker, I despise conflict. When I see conflict happening with other people I want to run into it and help bring peace, a resolution. If I find myself in conflict I feel as if I can’t breath and it consumes me till resolution shows it’s face. The conflict could be as simple as someone expressing displeasure, disappointment, or just having a go at my character or anyone in my family. This line of the song reminds me I can rest on my knees, look up, and raise my hands in surrender believing that my Father knows best and will only allow His will to surround me.

A few scriptures that capture my hearts song:

Psalm 36 vs 27b “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

Psalm 27 vs. 4 - “ One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon the rock.”

We find ourselves in battles all the time. Battles of the mind, heart, body, and soul. Battling questions and conclusions that consume our thoughts; “am I good enough, will I ever be accepted for who I truly am, if they knew my inner thoughts and desires they would despise me, if I achieve more I’ll be happy and content, if I earn more I’ll be able to be generous, if I just had more margin in life I’d give more time to God......”

Our heads are consumed by battles like these.

We battle in relationships, some feelings are; “if I get married I’ll be content, if they just listen they would understand why I did what I did, if they just asked for forgiveness then I could forgive them, they don’t actually want to see the real me...”

Battles of the soul, “God has to accept me I am a good person, God will never accept me I have just done too many horrible things, if I admitted my doubts people would doubt God, if I open up too much I may get hurt again ...”

All of these are battles we fight every day and there are so many more. The profound truth of who God is means we don’t have to fight on our own or in our own strength.

Philippians 4 vs. 13 talks about doing all things through Christ who gives me strength. For most of my life I thought that meant any hard time, trial, misunderstanding, hurt meant I just had to soldier on and honor God by getting on with it, and God would give me the grace to face it. But the true power and beauty of this text is that it is surrounded by other verses talking about being content. My fear of conflict really reveals my lack of trusting in God to work things out, I lack contentment and trust. My battles of the mind speak about lacking in faith that God knows best. I want to live in that truth, because of Christ in me I can face any circumstance, having much (relationships, money, opportunities, comforts, or promotions) or little and rest, be at peace, live in joy because the battle belongs to Him.

I may not have listed or touched the battles you face but I know you have them. Please don’t soldier on battling in your own strength. Please don’t deceive yourself in believing your battles are unique, they are not. Nothing surprises God and when we fall on our knees and cry out to him it brings him great joy and delight.