KEEP FIGHTING!

I was having a conversation one day with a friend and mentor. I was sharing with him some of the challenges I was facing in my life. There were multiple battlefronts and fairly extreme experiences to explain, and once I put them all into the same conversation, I was somewhat surprised and honestly overwhelmed. My friend listened and then said, “Mark, you’re in a spiritual fight!” The thought had occurred to me, but to have someone else tell me, made it more real. I responded, “But I don’t want to be in a fight!”

It is amazing to me that the two words, “Keep fighting!” are nearly always relevant to something which is currently happening in our lives. There is always something we are having to battle against or through. It may be an OBSTACLE, OPPOSITION or even an OPPORTUNITY. The Apostle Paul wrote about an opportunity which had opened to him, but there was great opposition (I Corinthians 16:9). We have to fight against our fleshly desires, “which war against our soul” (1 Peter 2:11). 

When I think about the spiritual fight we are all engaged in, there is a somewhat old word which comes to mind, VIGILANT. Peter uses this word in 1 Peter 5:8 when he encourages us to “be vigilant” (KJV) because “your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (NIV) In this context, vigilant means “to watch; give strict attention to, be cautious, active.” The original Greek word (gregoreuo) comes from another word (egeiro) which means “to arouse, cause to rise, from sleep, to awake; to raise up, stir up.” (Definitions from Strong’s Concordance, bible.crosswalk.com)

Like me, you may not want to be in a fight today. You may long for a day free of drama, or tension or conflict. You may ask whoever will listen, “Why can’t I just have one day of complete peace, calm and a long afternoon nap?” The reason is because we’re in a fight. We’re in a war, and the battle is being waged on multiple fronts. We have no option but to keep fighting. Paul tells us to “fight the good fight of the faith.” (1 Timothy 6:12 NIV) So, whatever you are dealing with today: Keep fighting! Keep fighting! Keep fighting! AND don’t ever give up!

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:57 NIV