Preparing for Battle

The goal of the call of God is his satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in his battles. ~Oswald Chambers

I have been doing a devotionalt from the book My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. This week, I read this and it has been resonating with me all week. We aren't to fight God's battles, but to be used in the fight. That is the call of God. To be used. Period.

Looking up the word battle in a concordance is like going through a lot of Old Testament wars. Each one had a purpose and was, in the end, for the glory of God. Psalm 24:8 says "who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty in battle." We each have our battles that we are in. Trials, hardships, sickness. Some of our own making.

I was able to spend time this weekend with former coworkers. Lots of changes occurred in all our lives since we last saw each other. It was amazing to see how the battles that were seemingly insurmountable at the time have brought so much glory to God. How past experiences have prepared us for where God has us now.

Psalm 144: 1 says "blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle."  I have been working out with a personal trainer. This week I graduated to the next level. What this means if I have found places I didn't know I had muscles. They are being trained to be stronger. Is it easy? NOPE. Is it going to be worth the pain? Yes. During a particularly rough moment, I pictured my cousins and brother in my head getting me through it. I messaged them after to thank them for being my imaginary cheerleaders. One of them told me that the hard work will pay off and what seems hard now is going to be easy in a few weeks with consistency. Isn't that true in our lives? What seems hard at first and insurmountable will eventually be a distant memory. But it prepared us for the next battle. It help to make us stronger. It allowed for the glory of God to shine through us.

The hard part is taking that next step. But each step, each trial, each hardship is preparing us. Not to fight God's battles, but to be used by him in his battle.

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