The Struggle

The victorious Christian life is a constant struggle. We are aliens in a hostile world. We have a supernatural enemy who is constantly trying to attack God by attacking us. We have a sin nature that is in conflict with the Holy Spirit's desire to transform us into His likeness. We have a world that constantly bombards us with ideas meant to conform us to their image and thought processes. We are surrounded by needs, and our resources and abilities can never completely solve the problems. We live in bodies of flesh that tire and age and ache and get sick and have unquenchable appetites. We live a life of faith with no guarantee of the earthly outcome; and, often, no idea what the outcome actually was.
And yet, we have victory. We are "more than conquerors." Why? Because the God we serve is eternally faithful. The hostility of the world is evidence of our eternal citizenship. The attack of the enemy is proof that we are being faithful, that God has confidence in us to face the trial by relying on His faithfulness. Our sin nature will lose. "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." "Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound." The world's seduction causes us to be constantly renewing our minds through the power of the Spirit in teaching us His Word. The meeting of the needs of others keeps our selfishness at bay and our dependence on Him a necessity. They make us long for the day when He will return and all needs will be met, justice and righteousness will reign. Our aging bodies make us long for home, to seek to see His face, to rest in His arms, to gain immortal, incorruptible bodies like His. Our inability to control and see the outcomes of faith forces us to live lives of humility--and faith. What we see causes us to embrace what we know: "All things work for the good of those who are His children, loved by inescapable love."
Victory is never easy. The battle rages around us and in us. We are the battlefield. Each day we put on the armor He has supplied. Each day we follow our Captain into the conflict fully assured of victory because He has fought and won the battle for us.

"Not to the strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race, but to the true and the faithful victory is promised through grace."

Fight on.