Lately, in my walk with Christ, I have been feeling extremely fatigued. It feels like I am fighting against a formidable, unseen force and it’s winning. Whether that unseen force is the devil or my own struggle with self-discipline, it has definitely gotten the better of me.
As I was contemplating where I went wrong, I heard the Holy Spirit whispering the same phrase to me: “Fight the good fight. Fight the good fight.”
Knowing that the Holy Spirit was speaking a Bible verse to me, I looked up 1 Timothy 6:12, which says, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
While thinking about the phrase and verse God gave me, I realized that, as believers, we need a high level of grit: mental courage and an unyielding will to lay hold of God and never let Him go. No matter how many times we fall or what the battlefield looks like today, we must pick up our battle gear and fight to get to where His presence dwells.
Later that morning, as I was letting the Holy Spirit minister to me, my dad called. (Don’t we love when God confirms something He is teaching us through someone else?)
He felt led to call and share a story about his childhood. Before my grandpa passed away, he had shared this memory with my dad. One day at football practice, my dad had to go up against one of the bigger kids in a tackling drill. Being on the smaller side, my dad would get laid out by the kid everyyyy time.
My grandpa, knowing my dad felt discouraged, pulled him aside and asked if he wanted to leave practice and just go home. But my dad refused. When it was his turn again, he mustered all his anger and strength and finally knocked the kid down.
My dad had no idea that this was exactly how I felt. I kept getting knocked down by what seemed to be a formidable force, and the temptation to give up and go home was strong. But his story reaffirmed my need to have the same grit he had as a child and refuse to give up.
I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me that, even though my opponent was strong, it wasn’t as formidable as I thought. I needed to get up and fight to lay hold of a life that transcends this world—an eternal life I can experience today, right now. This was the life and faith I had professed before so many witnesses.
As I reflected on what was at stake, the familiar saying came to mind: “Choose your battles wisely.” Some battles aren’t worth our time or energy, while others deserve our focus and effort because of what we stand to lose if we walk away. This fight of faith, this battle I am facing, is WORTH fighting.
This encouragement God gave me is what I now offer to you.
I don’t know what battle you’re embarking on right now. Only God knows the battlefield you’re currently on. Whether you’re struggling with sin, your flesh, your self-discipline, the enemy plaguing your life, or the feeling that the promises God gave you are being stolen, I want to encourage you to keep fighting.
Do what you need to do to WIN. Ask the Holy Spirit for strategy and the perseverance to get back up. Remember my dad’s refusal to give up as a child? Hold on to that same childlike confidence: if you don’t surrender, you will eventually win.
Paul knew Timothy needed this encouragement not to give up. In his second letter to Timothy, he goes on to testify that he fought the good fight and kept the faith. Whatever rose up against him to steal his faith and his confession, he gave it all he had and won.
2 Timothy 4:7–8: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Not only do we have a promise to lay hold of eternal life here on this earth, but we also have the promise of receiving a crown of righteousness on that glorious day when Jesus appears.
My prayer is that this blog helps strengthen your mental fortitude and your unyielding will to chase after God.
Pray this prayer:
God, I make a vow to you today that I will seek you no matter how many times I fall, what the battlefield looks like, or what distractions come my way. Even if I am the one standing in the way, I vow that, for the rest of my life, I will SEEK you. I won’t stop pursuing you.
I pray, God, that you continue to strengthen me and give me the mental resilience and perseverance I need to fight this fight of faith. May I, like Paul, be able to say at the end of my days, “I have fought the fight of faith and WON. Nothing was able to steal my trust in you or my relationship with you. I allowed nothing to steal our moments of intimacy, the moments when you wanted to reveal yourself to me, or the battles you desired for me to win for your glory.”
I love you, God, now and forever. And I will always fight to get to you, as you have fought the battle against sin to get to me.
Written by: EliSarri