I was walking with my mom a while ago along the river. I was taking her to my favourite place on the far side where a run off drain has made a perfect niche in the trees and you can sit on the concrete with your feet dangling over the river. The cathedral rises above the trees across from where we sit. It's a place of peace, calm, and serenity; a place to think that I enjoy going to whenever I can. Life's concerns and confusion can all be laid aside for a moment of quiet. But it is only a moment and I must eventually turn my back on the water and wade into my own river that is the craziness of my life.
In the space of one week about a year ago, my eyes were opened to all the spiritual battles that are going on around me and I continue to see them. I truly feel thrust back into a chaotic battlefield that was previously set aside during my moment of respite. It seems that the closer we are to God, the more involved we become in the spiritual battle. And as my eyes are opened to this battle I am fighting, I also see friends who are fighting. Although we have different struggles, we are all in the same battle.
Talking to a friend late one night, he asked me to pray for him because he was fighting a spiritual battle. This stirred in me the realization that asking me to pray did not mean asking me to fight. It was more of a request to "have his back" and be united while we both fight our own battles. I don't think I really understood that before. I always felt bad about sharing my problems with others because I thought I was adding to their burden. But in reality, I'm asking them to shift their position on the battlefield so as to have my back, but not to stop their own fight.
And as we fight, God is there in the midst of all the chaos. He stands in the middle of our united circles so that he can support and connect us all. We surround him not because he is weak, but with our limited human ability, even in our frailness, the faithful desire to uphold his name and bear his standard.
And our struggles to protect him are so human and small. Like a lion cub fighting off grasshoppers while the lioness guards against the hyenas. And not to belittle our struggles, I know mine feel like the world is entirely against me, but to realize that our God is a fierce and mighty warrior and he does not need us to fend off grasshoppers. I think I forget the awesome power of God sometimes. It was during a youth conference last year that I realized I do not fear God. I saw him as the Old testament people might have seen him 2000 years ago. He was not the warrior king who had come to drive out the Romans. He was a man who allowed himself to be killed and they saw his mortality. At times I was arrogant enough to think God needs my protection so that he is not beaten down. How foolish I was! His strength and sheer power are too great for me to even begin to understand. So yes, our battles are difficult. And yes, we can ask for prayer warriors to guard our backs. And yes, we seek to bear Christ's standard with honour, dignity, bravery and perseverance. But don't for one moment think that God is small enough or weak enough to need our human efforts.
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