Monday, January 24, 2011

Sometimes We Need to Fight

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.~~Exodus 17:10-11 NIV

God kept His promise and brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. However, the Lord did not take them on the easy route.

Often times God takes us on journeys that we have no idea why we're going in the direction we're headed. Though, there are times He wants to see if we will keep the fight in us.

While the Israelites lived in the desert where the Lord led them, they had to fight the Amalekites with the encouragement of Moses, Aaron and Hur as their supporters.

I remember reading a story to my children some years back about Gertrude Ederle. Gertrude was a gold medalist swimmer. In 1925, she took on the challenge to swim the 21-mile English Channel from France to England. Only five men had successfully completed the swim and no woman was on record for it.

On her first attempt, her trainer touched her only seven miles from shore. He thought she was too nauseated to continue, but she wanted to go on. But that slight touch disqualified her.

She could have stopped and never tried again. She wondered with her failure if she could acquire more sponsors for another attempt. With her resolve stronger than before, she had to eliminate the defeating memories that crossed her mind and build a team of supporters that included her friends and family.

Gertrude returned to the channel in 1926 and completed the swim with great swells coming against her. Not only did she complete the swim, but she beat all the previous records held by the men.

The fight of determination inside Gertrude with the support of her friends and family helped her achieve what had not been done before.

The Israelites did not give up and fought against their enemies and they had the support of Moses, Aaron and Hur.

I must remind myself frequently, that just because God called me to go in a certain direction, it doesn’t mean I'll get to go the easy route.

A few weeks ago, I read on my friend Darlene Schacht's blog. She wrote in this post:

When you combine persistence with the grace of God, you become a dynamic living force. It’s as simple as that. Stop giving up when the going gets tough, and for once in your life, make it happen. This lesson in persistence is one to be applied to every area of our lives whether it be healthy eating, working out our marriage or trusting the Lord through a trial.

I decided that for 2011, I'm going to adopt a phrase from the above paragraph as my motto:

Persistence with the grace of God!

How about you? Ready to press forward with what the Lord has for you? Ready to fight for it with persistence, supporters and God's grace? Let's go!

3 gracious comments:

Anonymous said...

It's so true! We often quit just inches from success.
Trusting God is a daily choice made easier the more we make it. When things get rough, I remind myself that God is more in my corner than I am! (See Rom 8:32-39)

Anna

Dionna said...

I love how you said, "Sometimes He wants to see if we will keep the fight in us." I love that.

Kim said...

Shonda,
Love this blog piece! What an encouragement! Thanks!