Devo: "How Will We Fight?"
How Will We Fight?
“…David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God...” ---1 Samuel 30:6–8
In this life, all of us will encounter adversities in some form or fashion. When we are confronted with those adversities, the question is, “How will we fight?” “Will we fight the fight in faith?
When an adversity comes, will we fight it in our strength and wisdom? In the face of someone rejecting us or giving us a hard time, will revert to old flesh patterns? When the fight gets hard, will we sedate ourselves with something other than Jesus? When things get hard will we quit and not fight at all? Will we and how will we fight?
When David was confronted with the major adversity described above, his response was to strengthen his faith in the Lord. When King Jehoshaphat was confronted with three nations that wanted to destroy him and his nation, he set his heart to seek the Lord (2 Chronicles 20). When Jesus received the news about His earthly cousin, John the Baptist being beheaded, He went into the wilderness to communicate with His Father (Matthew 14:13). When He was confronted with the weight of the Cross, He responded by going to His Father (John 14:32). I could go on and on with examples of persons who being confronted with an adversity, responded by fighting in faith. The real fight is all about whether we are going to believe God’s Word or trust in God’s nature and character.
When Horatio Spafford, a Chicago businessman, faced adversities, he responded in faith. Horatio lost his business to the “Great Chicago fire of 1871”. Then in 1873 he wanted to take his wife and four daughters to Europe for a time of rest. Last minute business concerns caused him to send his wife and daughters on ahead, on schedule. The ship carrying his wife and daughters was tragically struck by another ship and sank in twelve minutes. When his wife reached Wales she telegraphed him, “Saved, Alone”. When he was traveling to meet his wife, the captain of his ship told him of the spot where tragedy occurred that took his four daughters. While sailing near and over the location, he wrote the famous hymn, “It is Well With My Soul” as a declaration of faith. Horatio and his wife did not stop fighting the fight of faith. The Lord redeemed many of things that the devil had stolen. The fruit of his fight of that hymn has touched millions of people, for over a century. He later started a ministry hotel in Jerusalem that ministered to the needs of Christians, Muslims and Jews. The same location later became the site of the 1983 Oslo Peace Accord, between Israel and the Palestinians. Horatio Spafford’s decision to fight in faith to the adversities and tragedies of his life, have born massive fruit in his life and millions of other peoples and nations.
When we find ourselves facing an adversity, the decision to place our faith in God, will free Him to cause all things to work out for our good and fill our lives with the fruit of His Kingdom. “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12)