Winning the Battle Within

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There is nothing I like more than — and despise at the same time as — falling asleep on the couch. While I do love that warm, soothing feeling of dozing off underneath my favorite fluffy throw while watching an episode of Friends on Netflix, I can hardly think of anything else so good that is simultaneously so burdensome. Why? Because finding the motivation after I wake up to move my lethargic body off the couch, march up the stairs, and get ready for bed feels as monumentally hard as asking me to climb Mount Washington in flip-flops.

Perhaps this is indicative of why I am not a napper. I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who could take a 20-minute cat nap and feel like a million dollars afterward, but instead I wake up feeling like a cat that got locked out of the house last night and got beat up by the neighborhood bully. So as much as I adore settling in for the night in my jammies on the couch, I’ve learned the hard way that when the battle of the eyelids sets in, I must resist with all my might and just go to bed whether or not what I’m watching or reading has concluded.

While the story of my couch battle is certainly one of life’s minor ironies, the spiritual battles within all of us are anything but minor and often stir up baffling contradictions of simultaneous love and hate. We often find ourselves startled when an internal battle swells up and threatens to take us back into old habits, sins, worry, or long-forgotten pain. That thing that we promised God and ourselves that we would never do again. That habit that comes back when we’re under stress, worry, or fatigue. That old wound that we find ourselves going back to revisit after many months of walking in freedom. No matter what the struggle is, we’ve learned the prescription for healing and victory in the past, but either we’re feeling too weak to execute on the remedy or we inexplicably give into willfulness or rebellion.

No matter our spiritual maturity or emotional intelligence level, we have ALL been there and we’ll all be there again. But at every point in our faith journey, we can find concrete encouragement and explicit instructions in God’s Word on how to overcome our battles and learn to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, and souls. Out of all the fully human champions chronicled in the Bible, King David of the Old Testament and the apostle Paul in the New Testament were the best at confessing and verbalizing the spiritual battles waging within. Through the Psalms and most of Paul’s epistles, we find deeply relatable pleas for help and highly motivational tutorials for managing the war that wages between our fleshly desires and God’s best for us.

One of the many remedies God has directed me to use in effectively fighting internal battles is exercise. Like getting up from the couch after dozing off, some days it takes a seemingly gargantuan effort to make it happen. But yesterday I had an especially rare and alluring incentive — it was sunny and almost 60 degrees at my house. For those not familiar with Maine weather, trust me when I say that a temperature like that in early February makes a Mainer want to break out into the Hallelujah Chorus. And I just about did as I power walked the slushy, muddy roads in my neighborhood. On my turn back toward home, as I looked up at the sunshine filtering down through the tall evergreens, I suddenly realized how much the outcome of our battles is dependent on our perspective. Perspective isn’t just in our minds. It’s a battle plan for a victory already won.

Getting out for some exercise when I don’t want to do so, helps me develop the motivation and attitude I personally need to stay out of mental pitfalls. It also gives me the energy to finish my day strong. When I looked at the uncommon beauty and warmth spilling through the trees, I was reminded of the blessings and hope God gives me, versus whatever cold, uncomfortable, or dangerous roads I may be walking on at the time. As I snapped a quick picture of the scene above me, it was as though God whispered, “See what a difference it makes when you keep your thoughts focused up here, and not on the unfortunate conditions of the road you’re on?”

In Romans (chapters 7 and 8) 7:17-25 -- 8:1-2, Paul confesses about his own internal battles, reassuring us that even the greatest among us must continue to fight the good fight. Because The Message version of the Bible expresses it so profoundly, I’ve included Paul’s entire thoughts on the subject here. He says:

For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

The specifics of what we struggle with may change many times throughout our lives, but God is never content to stop peeling away the contaminated layers of our soul as He continually refines His workmanship. Each day on our journey here is one day closer to our final battle, which is already won for us. As I left for my walk, I was wrestling with a strong mental distraction, but the Holy Spirit lifted my head and reminded me that a view of victory was only a perspective shift away. No matter what skirmishes we encounter along the way, Jesus promises triumph for us in the day-to-day struggles of the heart and mind.

1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that no sin or trial can overtake us without God providing a way of escape or the ability to endure it. And 2 Timothy 1:7 assures us that He has given us a spirit of courage, power, love, and self-control.

Our job is to simply believe those two perspective-changing promises enough to act on them. Keep going as if they are true… because they are. Take the next step believing God will deliver the escape, contentment, hope, peace, mercy, grace, and strength you need as you need it, even though you can’t see it or feel it now. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but the real hard work has already been completed by our Savior. Our temporary battles here are all won because of the eternal victory Jesus has already secured. A valiant warrior holding to the vision of a sure outcome is far more likely to succeed than even the bravest hero with a bleak perspective. And in God’s eyes, we are all warriors, armed with His power and might. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul asks in Romans 8:31 and goes on to say in verse 37, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

Some of the roads we’ll walk in this life will be slippery, unpleasant, and cold. We’ll be destined to walk some them over and over until we learn. But our loving Savior has promised that every step we take has the potential to bring us closer to Him. The choice of direction is ours, but the power to move forward is all His.

Questions for Reflection

• In what ways do you think you need to shift your perspective about some of the difficulties you face? What can you begin doing with God's help to better prepare for victory in your life?
• For every ache in our soul, there is a remedy in God's Word. Read Psalm 40 out loud while you think of the greatest battles you're facing right now. What do you sense God telling you about your struggles? What attributes of God described in this Psalm mean the most to you right now and why?
• If today’s message encouraged you in some way, please pause and ask God what He would have you do based on what you just read. In addition to some action step or change on your part, ask Him who He’d like you to reach out today with this same message of hope. Whomever He lays on your heart, please don’t hesitate for one second to begin praying for them. You could also send them this blog post with a personal note encouraging them. 

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