To Remain In the Battle

That mess inside of you. It's there, and you know it. It's there, and you hate it.

Because it's there. Because it reminds you of your lacking and your failing. Because out of it comes an ugliness in you that you cannot control.

So you hate it, and you take it, your mess, and you hide it because you are ashamed, you try to control it because you are embarassed, and you run from it because you are afraid. For you hate it.

But, oh, that is where, that is when, you must stay in the battle. The battle that belongs to the LORD, you must remain there. Do not hide or run, or try to control. But stay. In the battle, stay. For you to experience victory, to know the Victorious One, and to learn how to walk free. You must remain. There.

Remain. Not as one who stands and fights alone. But as one who stands shoulder to shoulder with the Victorious One. Not as one who must defend and protect all alone. But as one who stands already protected in the shadow of the Sovereign One. Not as one who carries all the responsibility and weight. But as one who stands surrounded by the Faithful One, Who goes before and comes behind, you.

Because the battle belongs to the LORD, so you can remain. You can remain in the battle, knowing He’s got this.

And He will take your mess, that very thing you hate. He will take it and use it and mold it and shape it for His glory, and your good. And He will show you just how He can take your ashes, that ugly mess inside of you, and turn it into beauty (Isaiah 61:3). How He can make you whole and right with Him, within your mess. How He can bring peace, to you, and remove all that shame that makes you want to hide. How He can and He will, in you, as you remain in Him.

Because He is the Mighty One Who saves.

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“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” - Zephaniah 3:17

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24