Hello! I hope you are having a great Monday! This email is coming to a little later in the day than normal so I apologize for that.
This past week I took our daughter to the zoo and she got to see the kangaroos actually up close for the first time! They only let you touch them if they come onto the path themselves and this time we hit the jackpot because they were all on the path ready for some social interaction! Her excitement was adorable so I had to include a picture of that for you.
I hope you can find something this week that brings you as much joy as those sweet kangaroos did her.
Fighting on our knees
Yesterday I was in my car when Phil Wickham’s song “battle belongs” came on. If you aren’t familiar, take a look at some of these lyrics:
“So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees
With my hands lifted high
Oh God, the battle belongs to You
And every fear I lay at Your feet
I'll sing through the night
Oh God, the battle belongs to You”
I really loved this specific portion of the song. “Fighting on our knees” is a phrase you have probably heard before. But as I was listening to this song, I was reflecting and wondered how often I actually am fighting my battles on my knees, knowing that the battle belongs to God. It’s easy to say. And as Christians, it makes total sense, right? Like we know God is in control and we are suppose to turn to Him always. But in reality, it’s hard to execute. I can't be the only one who feels this way!
Handing our battles over to the Lord and fighting our battles through prayer doesn’t come as first nature. Our instinct is to take control, fight harder, and figure out a solution. So how to do change that humanly desire to control and lean into God in hard times?
Let’s first take a look at scripture.
James 5:13
"Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise."
Psalms 59:16
"But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble."
Psalms 50:15
"and call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
Psalms 118:5
"When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place."
Jeremiah 33:3
"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
Luke 22:44
"And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."
As you can see, the Bible refers to God as our refuge, our fortress, and someone who hears and answers our cries to Him. God desires for us to call upon His name, in both the good and bad. He longs to hear us and tell Him the desires of our hearts. I am so thankful for that- that God never gets tired of us running to Him, of hearing our hearts cry out to Him, of being there for us through all of life's trials.
We serve a God who deeply cares for us, and ask us to pray to Him within our battles. He is willing to fight with us, so we can let go of the urge to control everything. He is our greatest soldier, so when we are facing a battle, hitting our knees and calling to Him should be the first thing we do. The battle belongs to Him, so we can trust Him with it from beginning to end. It's truly the best thing we can do when facing hardships... fighting right on your knees.
Next time you sense a storm coming in your life, try hitting your knees before anything else. With your hands lifted high, acknowledge who the battle belongs to and let that knowledge carry you through it. He will fight for you.
My prayer for you this week:
God, thank you for everyone reading this right now. Thank you for being on our side and desiring good things for us. We are so thankful that you have a plan for each of us and that you are in control of everything. I pray that you will help us rely on you more. Lord, I pray when we fight battles, we won't try to do it alone through our own strength but that we would cry out to you and know that you are with us through it all.
Comentarios