The Fight: Claiming God’s Victory in LifeНамуна

The Fight for Your Faith

MMA Star Ronda Rousey was undefeated heading into the match with Holly Holm in October of 2020 – she was supposed to win; for goodness sake, most of her matches she’d won in a matter of seconds and she was at the top of her game. But then Holly Holm surprised everyone by lasting the whole first round; Rhonda was knocked out at the beginning of the second. When Rhonda woke up, she wondered, “What just happened?”

Life is like that sometimes, it can feel like we just got kicked in the head, left on the mat – it’s nothing like you planned it was going to be. Divorce, career failure, financial struggles, loss of a loved one – nobody plans for that. The problem is, when we experience difficulties in life, we tend to make it about people, that’s the pressure/conflict we see – my boss is impossible to work for, my coworker is inappropriate, my spouse is always argumentative, that person cut me off – but the truth is, those battles you’re facing are primarily spiritual. You need to understand who your real adversary is. You may have a disagreement with your spouse, but your main problem is you have a spiritual enemy working against you.

The Apostle Paul explains the spiritual battle we face in Ephesians 6, but he describes the whole point of life before that in Ephesians 2. Before we engage in the battle of life, he wants us to know the goal and understand the strategy of the battle, because knowing the background is critical to understanding the reality we face. The reality is, there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves, that’s why God sent Jesus.

The fight of life starts with understanding the battle is already won, victory is already yours if you’re a child of God. It’s the great exchange: God takes our failure and gives us His success; he takes our imperfection and gives us Christ’s perfection, he takes our weakness and gives us His strength.

God isn’t mad at you he’s mad for you – he wants you to win! We fight not to get to God, but because God has fought to get to us. It’s why Christianity should be marked by joy, by life, by passion – it’s not an obligation – we fight confidently because the victory is already won!

Prayer: Father God, I admit that life feels like a battle and sometimes it’s so hard I feel like I’m losing that battle. Help me to remember that I need not fear because you’ve already won. Teach me to see who the real enemy is so I don’t lash out at those I love, help me to be ready for battle especially when I’m doing something for you. Help me fight from a place of strength. Thank you for sending Jesus to fight the ultimate battle for me, it’s in His name I pray.