How to win life’s battles (1)

Admit your own inadequacy. The only people God can’t help are those who don’t think they need His help. King Jehoshaphat said, ‘We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you’ (2 Chronicles 20:12 NIV). Often our eyes are on everything and everyone – except God – the One who can solve our problems. Your circumstances are like a mattress: if you’re on top you can rest easy, but if you’re underneath you can suffocate. Keep your eyes on the Lord and you’ll win out over your circumstances. Remember, it’s ‘not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord’ (Zechariah 4:6 NIV). You can’t live the Christian life in your own strength because you have a power shortage. You need the power that comes from letting God’s Spirit live through you. Try to imagine a glove. On its own, it is limp and powerless. But once a hand fills that glove it becomes useful and effective. Jesus said, ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you’ (Acts 1:8 NKJV). Jesus often spoke of the Holy Spirit as ‘the Helper’, so when you don’t know what to do, stand on His promise: ‘The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name…will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you’ (John 14:26 NKJV). If you fight in your own strength, you’ll lose. But when you draw on the power of God’s Spirit that’s within you, you’ll win.

Prayer Point

God, You are Lord over all, and there is no battle You can’t win. But sometimes I forget this, and I try to fight my battles in my own strength. And as I realise that it’s not going to work, my anxieties grow and grow. Help me, Lord, to bring You into every problem, large or small, that I need to face. When challenges come, help me turn to You as my first thought, not as my last resort.

Warren, Rick, God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan, 2006), 111-112.