Be Compelled.

I Corinthians 16:13
“Be on the alert; stand firm in the faith; act like men; be strong.”


Swords drawn. Battle plans perfectly laid out. Courageous acts of warfare. Sweat, blood, tears, and more sweat. Words spoken that mark history books to inspire generations. The face of a warrior who is prepared to die for a cause he believes in.

Those are the scenes that make good movies.

Yet, as I've been thinking about warriors, I wonder if the time of waiting for the action of battle is actually the hardest part. In the heat of the battle, the adrenaline is rushing and your mind is already made up that you will not retreat. Yet, how did you get to that place of abandonment? How did your hands learn how to war and your arms to bend a bow of bronze?

I keep seeing a picture of a warrior waiting in a trench. He is guarding the place he has been assigned. The waiting and the guarding are the hardest part...but the most crucial. Everyone thinks that the actual battle is the hardest. Yet, it's the waiting that makes or breaks a warrior. Where you position your heart and mind in that time will determine the outcome of the battle. Waiting is not just a matter of time...it is a place of vulnerability for the mind. Your thoughts--will you trust God or fear man? Will you focus on your assignment or yield to distraction, thus compromising the mission?

Jeremiah, the prophet, the one called to root up and to plant, to tear down and to build, once talked about a tree planted by living water:

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in The Lord, and whose hope The Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8 KJV)

No one could see the roots going deep as the tree was in a season of waiting. No one could perceive the work taking place beneath the surface. Yet, as those roots spread, the tree became stronger and stronger. The strengthening took place in obscurity--where no one could observe the process. When it was time, the tree began to bear much fruit, with green leaves and no fear of what drought could do.

I believe the most excellent warriors are those who have learned the art of waiting. They have learned that zeal without wisdom will not accomplish much. There is a strategy and perseverance and precision that is formed in the trenches of waiting. It's where you learn not to compromise. It's where you learn what it truly means to war.

In 2 Samuel there is a story that recounts the actions of mighty men of valor. (chapter 23:9-11)

"Next was Eleazar son of Doai the Ahohite. Eleazar was one of the three soldeirs who were with David when they callenged teh phillistines. The Phillistines were gathered for battle, and the Isralites drew back. BUT ELEAZAR STAYED where he was and fought the Philistines until he was so tired his hand stuck to his sword. The Lord gave a great victory for the Isralites taht day. The troops came back after Eleazar had won teh battle, but only to take weapons and armor from the enemy.

Next there was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines came together to fight in a vegetable field. Israel's troops ran away from teh Philistines, BUT SHAMMAH STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD AND FOUGHT for it and killed the Philistines. And the Lord gave a great victory."

Wow. They took lessons from their leader, David. He set a precedent of warfare that was based on waiting and perseverance. He knew how to trust God, and He warred from there.

I want to be a warrior like that--like the men of valor. They could have lost their lives, standing in a vegetable patch all alone, or warring until the sword stuck into their hand. Yet, their thoughts were already made up. They weren't concerned about making a name for themselves. They were concerned about faithfully doing their job--because their character was forged in the waiting.

"Jesus, teach my hands how to war. Teach your remnant how to war. Teach us how to hold the line and how to be a people whose eyes are consumed with you. God, in the waiting, teach us how to stay renewed in the spirit of our mind, so that we only think on those things that are of You. Keep our eyes from looking on worthless things and our thoughts from straying to distractions that compromise our focus and ultimately our call and destiny. I pray for a maturity to come to our walk with You--that our hearts would begin to discern the hour that we are living in, and that we would stop playing games and start seeking Your face. 24-7. That's what it's about...that's what our walk is called to be with You. moving with your heart. I don't disconnect my heart from my body during the week, and just connect it Sunday. I would die. Just like that, make it so real that without You, we are dead spiritually. God, break through! Bend us! Make us! Purify us! Shape us into the mighty warriors you've called us to be as a generation. Thank You God that you are moving! Amen."