Battles

Movies lie to us. They are supposed to. They are supposed to be escapes from reality. I think if movies were more like reality they would be incredibly boring.

Movies lie to us in how they portray suffering. In a movie, suffering, trials and hard times are shown as a 30 second music montage where we watch the character struggle; as the music fades our hero finds an answer, new strength or a purpose that ends that struggle. The movie is free to go on with the new lessons learned from the brief hardship.

Life isn't like that so much. Suffering never only lasts 30 seconds and there's hardly ever any music to it. (If there was, it would be terribly depressing and we won't want to hear it anyway.) Struggles can last for years and at the end of them sometimes it's hard to see what we learned; however, it's these everyday struggles that mature us.

God sometimes calls us to fight big battles. End abortion. Feed hungry children. End the slave trade. Cure homelessness. Sometimes we are asked to fight these battles; they are important and need to be addressed but God doesn't not always call everyone to fight these. He does, however, always call His children to fight the small, everyday personal battles of the heart. Greed. Pride. Lust. Jealousy. Idolatry.

It's these small, everyday battles that will mature us. These are the battles that make us slam our hand on the table and cry out "Why!? Why must I keep working on this?" There are no rallies or fundraisers for these battles. Just a God who encourages us and gives us the strength to let Him change our hearts. These mundane battles are what will deepen our walk with Christ and prepare us for any large battle God asks us to fight.

I am learning to not lose sight of the small battles because I am looking for large battles. It's harder than it sounds....

Romans 5:3-5
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

1 Peter 1:14-17
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.