The Good Fight Of Faith
Regardless of how long we have been living by and fighting the good fight of faith, no matter how much we have learned about it, every once in a while we undoubtedly suffer a setback. We may run into some circumstances that just do not turn out the way we expected.
If that happens, we must remember the following. Those setbacks are just temporary, and we need to keep fighting the good fight of faith. We may have lost a battle, but we are not going to lose the war. We simply have to get up and go at it again.
12Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.
9Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset--rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world.
10And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.
That being said, we might think or say to ourselves, “I don’t understand it, I did the best I could. I walked in all the truth I knew to walk in. Why didn’t I get the victory?” It was because there was something we did not know.
It should not shock us too much that there are things we do not know about the realm of the spirit. Even if we have been in the ministry for more than 10 years and spent untold hours in God’s Word, there are times it will seem as if the more we learn, the more we realize we do not know.
So, when we get to a situation where we cannot seem to get victory, we have to ask God for more wisdom. In 2 Samuel 21, we can see a time when King David had to do that. His country had been suffering from a famine for three years and David just did not understand it, so he inquired of the Lord. The Lord told him the famine had come because of something Saul had done. Is that not amazing? Saul had been dead for years, yet what he had put in motion in the realm of the spirit was still affecting his country.
At that point in time David could have simply given up when his usual confessions of faith and ways of praying did not drive out that famine, but he did not. He inquired of God for more wisdom. He used his temporary setback to cause him to seek more knowledge from God.
The Bible gives us numerous references to wisdom, especially God’s wisdom. The following passages from the Old Testament and New Testament are two that come to mind.
7The beginning of Wisdom is: get Wisdom (skillful and godly Wisdom)! [For skillful and godly Wisdom is the principal thing.] And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation).
5If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.
In summary, we need to follow King David’s example. Overcome the habit of quitting because of temporary setbacks. Refuse to let them knock us out of the game. After all, this game we call life is not over until God says it is over. What is more, the Bible says when it is all over, we will have won. Therefore, we must be steadfast and continue fighting the good fight of faith, and in the end our victory is guaranteed.
God Bless!
“Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible”
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