There is some news of which we stand in need of regular reminding. This is not theory nor fanaticism nor false alarm. What I wish to remind us of today is plain and simple fact which everything within you wants to dismiss and everything around you wants to suppress. Whether you are a follower of Jesus Christ as I am or whether you believe yourself to be sufficient as you stand alone, let me remind us that our lives are all bearing a similar scar: we are people in a fight… a sometimes brutal, always encroaching, occasionally defeating and never relenting war. How do I define this battle? It is the war between what we desire and what our reality is. You and I are often caught in the crossfire.
“There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary…18 After this there was again war … 19 And there was again war … 20 And there was again war…22:1 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies…” – 2 Samuel 21:15-22:1 {ESV}
King David was living in the center of God’s desire for his life. King David had a passionate heart for living and his worship was authentic as was his character. He was not without major flaws as evidenced by his biography in Scripture, but the man was genuine, sensitive to the majesty of his Maker and hungry to live to the fullest the years allotted to him. Surprisingly to some, David’s life was characterized by warfare. Someone was always gunning for this brother and in the excerpts from 2nd Samuel above we find it repeated over and over that “there was war”. I love the fact that the bible tells us that this mighty man of faith and valor “grew weary”. He was no dispassionate stoic who pretended that life’s challenges were not real. David wept, laughed, danced, raged, sinned, worshiped, hoped, despaired, loved, lusted, took, gave, hungered and banqueted during his life. He knew from others betrayal, abandonment, loyalty, honor, commitment and treachery. Why are these things noteworthy to me? Because David never seemed to look for a place where things permanently settled down so he could enter into perpetual ease.
There always seemed to be battles. And so it is with you and me.
It is good for us to be reacquainted with the truth that life down here is not designed to be easy. We don’t live in an environment which affords pleasure without price. There are counterfeits and substitutes that we can find on life’s surface but these paltry treasures are barely sufficient for a thimble full of lasting pleasure. The best prizes are battled over. The deepest satisfactions require toil of some sort and they rarely go uncontested. You and I are targets of a literal enemy who has nothing else to do but to perfect his warfare as he follows through on his ageless agenda to steal, kill and destroy. Lest we place all the blame on this enemy, let’s remember that we are all sinners among sinners. This reality breeds its own litter of problems as we fight within ourselves and battle through our relationships with one another. The war goes on, changing only in its geography and intensity. Truth be known, we carry the conflict within us wherever we travel and it’s simply not realistic to presume upon the hope for days of ease. What do we do then with this unquenchable hope for tranquility, unity and harmony?
We direct towards the object of our faith and retain the confidence that it will be ours soon enough.
For those of you in Christ I do well to remind you that you cannot enjoy the fullness of Heaven while bound to this earth. Your hopes and hungers will always be left in a state of incompleteness. What you really desire is oneness with God without anything in between. This is an honorable desire born in you through your spiritual unification with Christ. The Spirit of God lives within you and He yearns for perfection and cries out through all of your senses, “Abba, Father!” The hunger is with you and that is evidence that you do not fully belong here. You have been reborn for a different place, an ultimate reality and an eternal King. I encourage you to fight your battles today and expect different ones tomorrow. Anticipate seasons of weariness. Don’t suppress your hopes for a better future. Be angry at all that is wrong within you and call out to God for lavish grace so that you might endure to the end and experience His faithful commitment to satisfy you daily – not weekly, not monthly and not annually. Daily provision. Daily satisfaction. Daily contentment. Your Master is not absent in your battle and, as long as you retain your sense of His nearness, you will experience the intended victory.
Don’t look for the cease fire because the conflict down here is permanent. David eventually sang his triumph song when the Lord gave him rest from all his enemies. You will do the same when the battles are permanently ended. Wisely acknowledge, however, that this grand event never occurs during your lifetime below. That celebration awaits you in glory. Because your battles will continue to come, seek wisdom for victory, not permission for leave. We fight for a glorious King and, never forget, we fight alongside Him.
There is an endless amount of relief for me when I mentally stay in this framework. Not “having arrived” works to keep me humbly dependent and, quite frankly, gives me some things too look foward to. For decades, I wanted to say “this is IT” in either resigned exhaustion or momentary achievement. Each would have been a place of death. Thank you for reminding me the wars don’t end…and that is a good thing.