A "good" fight? For life

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. – Exodus 14:14

For the battle is not yours, but God’s. – 2 Chron. 20:15

I remember my son going off to war. I really struggled to understand the “why”? What was this Iraq war all about? It went on for years. The same with the on-going fighting over the Holy Land. So many wars over the history of time, with seemingly good reasons in the beginning, but we tend to lose focus after time – and then it can seem so senseless compared to the price of lives lost.

Then I zeroed in and turned my focus to my own life and the hurtful, cold-shoulder fights between other people that have carried on for years. And I have a hard time remembering the reason how it all got started. I don’t remember the intensity of the feelings that brought the battle on and fed it to this point. Years later, a relationship still not healed. Seems senseless - life lost.

I see plenty of reminders on the social media to not let bitterness and anger rule over your life. To forgive and move on. I may not have any influence on the wars going on around the world. I may not be able to affect any change in some of my past relationships that “ended” poorly. But I can forgive. And I can give to God. I can stand on His word that it is His battle. It is God that works in people’s hearts.

When my son was “way over there”, in harm’s way, I had to trust in God. I had to believe God would protect and provide. I chose to trust in God. I chose to pray every day and believe in His almighty power. Being angry at the war situation would not help me or him. I would just be angry and upset every day. I guess the same can be applied to today, watching the evening news. I pray for our world. I trust in the Lord. I believe it when He says the battle is His. And I pray over the pain inflicted by me and to me. I will  believe God works in people’s hearts. I forgive all things and walk with Him. Because the reasons for the fight, any fight,  just don’t matter as much as the life lost in being upset and unforgiving. The bible says, “Choose life!”  (Deut. 30:19)