Things have been really hard for me, as of late. I have felt so utterly discouraged... it is like I have come so close and everything in the world is fighting against me, fighting to keep me where I am. What I didn't realize that, that is exactly what has been happening. Let me explain...
I was watching The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and there was one scene that stuck out to me. Aslan has just topped the crest of a precipice overlooking the battle that Peter and Edmund are fighting. He (Aslan) has risen from the dead. Now, Peter is fighting the White Witch, trying to avenge Edmund, who lies dying on the wayside. Aslan let's out this earth shaking roar and all who do battle stop to look up at him. The witch sees him and something changes in her demeanor. You can see fear in her face, but then she mutters "impossible" and as she turns back to battle Peter, there is desperation and skill in her attack. Before this moment, the Witch seems mildly entertained... but now, now she is pissed off and she wants blood. Why? She has seen Aslan's return, she sees her own dwindling forces, and she sees the reinforcements that Aslan has brought. She can do the math. She can see that she will lose but she has already (or so she thinks) murdered Edmund, and she will do her best to take out Peter as well. She is determined to destroy Peter's destiny, and with him, Aslan's plan. Every swing of her blade is calculated and deadly. She becomes a force of reckoning with extreme skill and fatal precision, and Peter cannot keep up. It seems hopeless. Aslan will win his war but he has lost Peter. The witch has Peter's sword arm pinned to the ground, she has ripped his shield from his hand and he is entirely at her mercy. Then as she levels her sword towards his throat, ready to make the final cut she looks up for an instance, looking for Aslan, as if to say "haha I win!" and Aslan pounces on her.
So how does it apply to me? The victory of my life, of my soul, has already been proclaimed from the crest of the precipices of my life. Jesus has returned from the dead for me, He has brought me reinforcements. My war is won. But my battle is not over yet. Instead I am being forced to fight harder, fight longer, fight with more skill and accuracy, fight with more at stake. See now the devil is attacking me with deadly precision and supreme skill. He is crafty and sly. But above all else, the devil is determined to stop, to murder, to destroy me. God has raised his trumpets to proclaim his victory, Jessup is within reach. But now, now it is a fight to the finish. The devil is throwing everything he can at me to keep me from fulfilling the greatness God has planned for me. My only comfort is that while God may well allow me to be pinned, to reach the very brink of my breaking point, but He will pounce on my enemy when it comes time. He will not let me or my destiny be destroyed, so long as I am fighting, He too will fight.
Here is the harsh reality of our world: our war has indeed been won. We need not doubt this fact. It was won the minute God blessed a virgin with his child, the minute his son chose to be the sacrificial lamb, the minute he gaspingly exclaimed "it is finished", the minute He returned to Earth. Our war is won, but our battle is not. We are under siege. The devil is fighting us with an unseen level of desperation and hatred. We cannot give up yet. We cannot stop fighting. Instead let us arm ourselves, let us prepare for the fight of our lifetime.
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