Community, struggles we all know about. Nobody has to define to any of us what a struggle is except in definition — the word “struggle” means “to make a forceful or violent effort to get free of restraint or resist attack.” It also means “fighting through obstacles to achieve a goal.”
A lot of you know about that; I know about it; because many of you “struggled” just to get out of bed, as in difficulty. It is “difficult” for some of you to put one foot in front of the other. Some go to church Sunday morning, and it is a “struggle” to get out of the car.
To others it is a struggle for them to even put on their own clothes, to put their shoes on, to brush their teeth, and some struggle to breathe; and yet for others it is a struggle to shower or give themselves a bath; visit some of the assisted living facilities, rest homes; and then to others their finances has become an obstacle in that they are struggling to make ends meet and balance a decent budget.
A lot of us know about that; and then my heart go out to mothers, single parents who are struggling trying to raise their children alone, especially boys; with gangs, drugs, guns, fast women, the streets can be a magnet; struggling working two and three jobs just to make it; but none of us have ever struggle with an angel all night long like Jacob did in Genesis chapter 32:24-26 where the angel said, “Let me go! And Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”
Some of us struggled in school, college, in internship; some are struggling with their marriage, it’s a tug of war, and they are trying to make it; and community, here we are in the middle of “Black History” month. African-Americans know about our history and the struggles of our ancestors; the struggle of the Civil Rights movement. The Sit-In’s, the peaceful protests, the 16th street bombing on Sept. 15, 1963, and those who during the struggle stood firm but lost their lives like Medgar Evers, James Earl Chaney, Jimmie Lee Jackson, George Winston Lee, Emmet Louis Till, Viola Liuzzo, the caucasian mother of five from Detroit who drove to Alabama to march with Dr. King but was killed as she transported African-Americans between Selma and Montgomery — and Dr. Martin L. King Jr. himself and others.
Community, no victory is won without a STRUGGLE. But all of us, and I mean all of us, have had an encounter with the forces of evil. And some of us were brought to our knees; and the word today is we still are; the struggle is on; and not for just one of us, but all of us, at every level; a struggle, a war within between the flesh and the spirit; for when we would good, evil is always present. if you are a soldier in the army of the Lord “the struggle is on!” the Apostle Paul explains how each of us who believe in Jesus will inevitably encounter our own fierce struggles, those places where we feel overwhelmed and are tempted to surrender; instead, we must take our “stand against the devil’s schemes” and “stand firm.
Rather than cower in fear or crumble as we recognize our weakness and vulnerability, Paul challenged us to step forward in faith, remembering that we don’t rely on our own courage and strength but on God.”
That’s the truth, community; sometimes the struggle can make you want to surrender, wave the white flag or throw in the towel when the battle has been going on for a long time; but we must stand firm! Realizing that a strong defense against the enemy is to have a strong offence.
Friends, more now than ever we need to stand firm and stand our ground; God needs somebody to stand for him and the kingdom; not go along to get along but to stand; in the times we’re living in now and the shape our world and country is in we had better prepare ourselves to “stand firm and stand our ground.”
We are to endure hardship as a good soldier (2 Tim. 2:3). The day is evil, and the enemy is evil, but “if God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). The Apostle Paul encourages the Christians in the Ephesian church to “Be strong in the Lord, and IN the power of HIS might (Eph. 6:10).”
The mistake we make is we rely too much on our own strength; we think that we are Superman and Wonder Woman; that we are faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive; that we can leap tall buildings in a single bound … that we can lasso our enemy with a golden rope; we feel as if we must muster up inner strength to stand on our own; but on our own the devil will wipe the floor with us! Paul said, “Be strong IN the Lord, and the power of HIS STRENGTH.
HIS not ours!
Community, the struggle is on … but stand firm saints! there is a conflict going on; and Satan is the mastermind behind it all; but we don’t have to be afraid; for “Greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4b).”
Community, the cross is a reminder that we can stand; for it was on the cross that our savior defeated Satan. The struggle is on, but “stand firm.”
The Rev. George Ellis is the pastor at Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
Leave a Reply