A Good Soldier

I have tossed and turned all night. My body is rebelling against infection, leukemia and multiple drug reactions from powerful drugs. These medications that have been added to fight the fungal infection are proving to be more difficult to take than any chemotherapy I have taken. The oral medication feels like liquid fire as it pours down my throat. All night I have remained in a constant state of nausea and malaise. The battles rage inside my armor of skin. Medicinal bullets fire away at the fungal enemy. As the enemy is targeted and killed, the death of fungal cells emits confusion and chaos. War has been declared against these invaders. As they taunt and tease and threaten my life, I have been reminded overnight that I must re-equip for this battle. It is a battle far too great for my flesh to fight.

I receive a daily e-mail and today's arrived a short while ago. What an appropriate reminder for me. Gloria Copeland writes:

"Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
(2 Timothy 2:3)

Times of hardness are inevitable. You need to know that. It's true that we've been redeemed from the curse, and there's nothing Satan can do to reverse that, but he is going to challenge you on it.

So don't be surprised when things get tough. Times will come when you have to stand strictly by faith, when you'll have to speak and act as though what God says is true even when you can't feel it or see it happening around you. There will be times when everything looks terrible. That's when you must endure hardness as a good soldier.

Let me warn you, living by faith is not something you try. It's a lifestyle. You do it when it's hard. You do it when it's easy. You do it all the time because you're not doing it just to get in on the benefits. You're doing it because you know that faith pleases God (Heb. 11:6).

Things may get a little rough at times, but let me assure you, you'll always come out on top if you endure hardness as a good soldier. If you refuse to faint and fall away, you will have the victory. The only defeated Christian is the one who quits!

After reading this and realizing that I am going to have to outfit myself for this life battle, like no other, I noticed the Verse of the Day on my Blog:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

As I prepare myself to battle as the "good soldier", I have been given the second memorandum that ALL of this, somehow, someway, is going to work together for good. God's Word promises me that. I cannot fathom with my own logic how this will work together for good, yet I will trust with my spirit that His Word is the Ultimate Authority on everything and It is true.

I am a victor. I am a conqueror. Tonight nothing in my fleshly armor feels victorious. My senses report to my brain that I am far from a conqueror in this battle. My senses report that the enemy has surrounded me, hemmed me in all sides, and has left me little room to escape. However, I cannot and will not rely on my senses to determine my destiny. I will leave my future in God's Hands. His hands are the only ones that I trust.

Romans 8:37-39 reports the final outcome of this battle. I am a conqueror, a vanquisher.

"No, in all these things,we are more than conquerors him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."