For any bow
hunter, (I am one) it is a real
treat to be in the woods during early November
and be lucky enough to watch two bucks going head to
head. Male deer battle for dominance during the fall
breeding season, literally smashing antlers together
as they collide. Often the antlers, their only
weapon, are broken. That ensures defeat. It’s not
always the heftiest buck with the largest antlers
that triumphs. Usually, it’s the buck with the
greater fight in him that wins.
NFL running back and the only two-time college
Heisman trophy winner, Archie Griffin, once said of
life, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight;
it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
Whether we realize
it or not, life is a fight. We live in the midst of
a war zone. Spiritual warfare is something we all
do. Some do it well while others do not. Spiritual
warfare is not for the fainthearted. It can be a
painful process. Even while we desire the light of
Christ in our heart, that same light shines into all
the dirty corners causing us to see parts of
ourselves that we would prefer to run from.
The problem for many who claim to be followers of
Jesus is that we just haven’t been taught how to
“Wrestle with Ourselves!” That’s why people in the
church are just as addicted, just as lonely, just as
angry, and just as empty as those outside the
church. What are you wrestling with right now?
God put you together to wrestle. To fight! To
battle!
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this
present darkness, against the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly places.
2 Corinthians 10:3, 4 For though we walk in
the flesh, we are not waging war according to the
flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the
flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Psalm 144:1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who
trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle…
The Apostle Paul
understood this well. Most of his life in Jesus was
one battle after another after another. And still,
as he could see death approaching, he said with
strength:
II Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race, and I have kept the
faith.”
