For the Battle Weary

Scripture Verses that caught my attention today: 1 Chronicles 18:5-6 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand Arameans. 6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus; and the Arameans became subject to David, and brought tribute. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

Observation: The Lord may have granted victory to David wherever he went, but he was still regularly in battle.

Application: I’m not a big fan of either war or war imagery, but if we have the eyes to see it, all of us are in battles of one sort or another every day. We may be battling with weight loss or time management or parenting or work-related issues or cancer or depression or God knows (literally) what else. It’s often a daily battle with an outcome determined largely by incremental choices. There is seldom total rest and, whenever there is total rest (as we will learn later in 2 Samuel 11), that’s the time to be especially careful not to self-destruct.

The good news is that these daily battles are really just a form of daily work. And daily work is a privilege—an opportunity to express oneself--a reason to get up and face the day and, when weariness naturally settles in, to sleep through the night.

Most (but not all!) of us are thankfully far-removed from the sort of brutalities that David and his soldiers faced with regularity. Nevertheless, our own battles rage on. They are mini-bouts—rounds, if you will—that move us closer toward victory or further from it.

A key point, however, is that in Scripture’s view it was the Lord that gave the victory, not the efforts of David himself. And so, whether we are seemingly victorious or not, we can give thanks for the each of our own little battles—they are the work to which we are called.

Prayer: Lord, I must admit that sometimes I would prefer not to have any battles. But after a while that would get boring. Each of us appreciates a challenge now and then. And once we start seeing things as challenges, well, that can shed a different light on things and keep us focused on meaningful pursuits. For that I give you thanks and praise. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 2 Samuel 8-9, 1 Chronicles 18-19, and Matthew 21)