I Exist For Him
Hello Victors! If you’re reading this, that is indeed what you are because here at The Victory Collective, we believe that we are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37).
If you read the last blog post, it was the week leading up to Easter, and I challenged you to not rush to Easter. Check it out here.
Today I am thankful for blue skies. It was cloudy and rainy all last week, and if you’re a teacher and you see clouds or rain in the forecast, you just need to take a deep breath and prepare yourself for a long week. But even in the gloomy days, God is still present. I needed that reminder last week because my emotions were kind of gloomy too.
You probably know this, but the moment our emotions are shaken, everything else begins to crumble as well. The beginning of the week I felt pretty stable. Then Thursday came, and I just felt very overwhelmed, heavy, and totally surrounded. What was I surrounded by?
My flesh. Basically every thought, bad attitude, snippy reaction, pity party, you name it. Thursday morning on my way to school that was the last place I wanted to be and don’t you know it, I could feel a fight going on within me between responding the right way or the wrong way.
Have you been there? Like, every little thing bothers you, nothing is going right or as you planned and you just kind of wonder where is God and why doesn’t he fix this? Let me say this also - I was thinking about my circumstances wrong.
God doesn’t exist to do my will; I exist for HIM. But when we are weak and weary, we become selfish and entitled and we can forget that He must increase and I must decrease (John 3:30).
I decided I needed a reset. So after school I grabbed my coffee and my Bible and soon found some verses that gave me hope. And I hope this helps you today.
Psalm 118 was where I landed. I found relief as I read these verses because the words echoed how I felt. Psalm 118:10-13 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.
I felt totally surrounded by the enemy, surrounded on every side like a swarm of bees or fire ready to just engulf me. Have you ever felt that way because of stress or even the burden of sin? I kept reading and found the words I cut them off to be an empowering sentence. But what was even more empowering was the source of that cutting off action — In the name of the Lord.
When the flood of frustration, stress, comparison, and inadequacy hits, remember you cannot live this life apart from the power of God and his spirit within you. The writer here reminds us that when he felt pushed to the very edge, even as though he were falling, He had help. Help not from inside of himself but from above — I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. Our sure path to victory over our flesh and over our sin is not trying harder, but going to Jesus more and asking for His help.
I don’t know how you’re feeling today or what burden you’re holding but I encourage you to pray right now for one thing: Spiritual power. When was the last time you asked God to help you and give you power to keep fighting your flesh, to keep on the right path, and to keep his glory as your main goal? I did not do this last week; I depended on myself, and it got me nowhere.
When I sat in church on Sunday, I was reminded about my lack of ability to live the Christian life. I have nothing within ME to fight my flesh and these battles, but I do serve a very powerful God who can help me. I need to start asking him for help more than I have been. What about you? It’s okay to ask for help. And in fact, it is exactly what God wants us to do. I’ll go first, you’re welcome to come behind me. He is able.
Your gold nugget for this week is: I can’t fight the good fight of faith alone. I will always need God’s help to live day by day.