Coffee Break Lane

A Call to War

Back in August I posted a quote from one of Nathan's songs. Once again these words are in my mind.
"This is not a call to comfort, Its a call to war, Come and join the battle, Fight like you've never fought before"

Why bother bringing it up again, you may ask? Well, because this is a battle that is a life long struggle. One that will be fought til the day we die or Jesus comes again.

"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me."
Romans 7:21

Ok, so I have posted this quote before too. But this is the battle we are emersed in every single day of our lives. The enemy is within and is fighting to take over using whatever it can, whenever it can.

Can you imagine a soldier at war falling asleep at his post?! It means nothing but defeat and death.
In Proverbs we are told to guard our hearts.
In 1 Timothy we are told to "fight the good fight of the faith".
In Ephesians we are told to "put on the full armor of God"
And in Matthew, Jesus tells us to "watch and pray".

These images of battle are there for a reason. And like a soldier in war, we cannot afford to fall asleep.

This is why i come here again today with these words - we are to stay alert! I am here to help myself and you, my fellow soldiers, to do that.

Life is hard.
As we have all of a sudden ended up in december, the end of another year, I was thinking about what this year has held. While i concluded 12 months is almost impossible to sum up accurately in a few sentences, there has been everything from Heartbreak to Death, and Serious illness. Not to mention of course the many natural disasters and acts of terrorism across the world.
Yes, this has been a hard year, and life is a battle.
We are surrounded by pain - personally, in those around us, and in the world itself, as it groans, calling for the pain to stop. What we experience each year may be different for everybody. But the pain is there.

BUT Before you get too depressed, let me remind you that not all is bad. A battle can be positive - maybe not a worldly battle, but one that is in faith and striving for holiness can. One that calls its soldiers to be bold and defend their saviour. Is that not why Paul calls it a 'good fight' in 1 Timothy?

Life may be hard. And it may be a call to war not comfort, but there is still comfort for those who fight, as for them comes life, not death, through Jesus, who "has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim 1:10).

Know you are not alone in the pain you may feel, my brothers and sisters. But stay alert in the battle. The battle that is inevitbale in this world but worth it in the next.

For those who were patient with my writing and got this far, well done, and thank you!

In Him, Chelsea

posted by Chelsea Taylor @ 1:56 PM