Fight the Good Fight

My husband always gives me a hard time because I am a "peacemaker". This would be in contrast to his rather abrupt and upfront methods of dealing with any particular issue - be it the slow old lady driving her car ahead, or the errant child, or the situation with the neighbor. (He's really not THAT bad, but I have to draw the contrast!).

This would probably come as a shock to my brother. He's 2 1/2 years younger than me, and frankly, we were really good at fighting when we were young. He knew my buttons, and I knew how to react. His quite tactics and my big mouth got both of us into a good bit of trouble for quite a few years.

Now that I am older, fighting has taken on a whole new meaning. Now I fight to get rid of my extra weight, I fight to keep the house clean, I fight to stay awake.

There is a verse in the Bible that states "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" Now this is the kind of fighting worth the effort. And it does take effort.

Another Bible verse says "Fight the good fight for the faith. Keep holding on to eternal life, to which you were called and about which you gave a good testimony in front of many witnesses." (1 Tim. 6:12)

Pondering what it means to fight the good fight brings about a couple of thoughts for me. Lately, life has been hard for me. Work saps me of my energy, there are alot of challenges in my day that take too much of my attention, that frankly don't deserve all the effort they demand. Things don't seem to fall together easily - or even somewhat agreeably. My budget is stretched, and there just isn't any good news on the news these days. All of this STUFF can really bring a girl down! Yet, I am encouraged to count it all joy when I face trials of many kinds.. So how do I do this -how do I fight the downward pull that would take me into discouragement, and depression? How do I choose joy in the midst of trial? By fighting the good fight!

But HOW? Last night, as the 4th thing in a row went wrong, I was able to stop, and with two very good friends, pray. And God brought to my mind Ephesians 6 - "Put on the full armour of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil... " The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, the Shield of faith - and feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.

Life was never promised to be easy - however, God has promised to give us every tool to be victorious thorugh His Son Jesus Christ. And it isn't my effort that this is dependent on, but rather my dependence on God to fight this battle for/through me.

So I'm gearing up - and getting ready for the fight. I really don't expect things to be easy, but I do plan on being victorious!