When God is with You in the Battle

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 New Living Translation (NLT)
9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.


 I have to say that this year has been one of the hardest years I have ever had to go through. It has been the hardest year emotionally, spiritually, and academically. I have been pushed in ways that I never knew were possible. I’ve been pushed physically and mentally. I have been tired in ways that I never knew a human being can be tired. I got to a point where I was just so overwhelmed and so tired that pouring into other people became really hard. I no longer had the patience to listen to people’s grievances’, people’s life stories. I no longer served people in love and compassion, but rather just out of obligation.

Have you ever just wanted a break from your own life? Just wanting to take a break on your life and just press pause because people still expect you to be okay. People still expect you to be joyful, giving and fulfilling your roles in life. But how can I still function in my roles when I can no longer feel? Because I felt numb. I really did.  I just felt like I was just drifting and floating from one day to another.

It’s easier to want to stay in that place then to fight your way out. It’s easy to imagine that you can’t get out of that funk. Because that’s what it is, it’s a funk. It’s just a funky place to be. Because when you think about the strength that you need to be able to get out of that place, it seems like you don’t have it within you. Truth is, you probably don’t. That’s why we need God. I am blessed enough to have sisters in Christ who would encourage me and pray for me continually.

There were countless times when I was having a bad day and just operating on 5% energy. And then I’d get a text message from one of them, encouraging me with God’s Word, and reminding me that they were praying for me. Isn’t it amazing that even when we can’t hear God, He’ll speak to people around us to remind us that He is still there and that He still cares?

I found that when they were in seasons in their lives when they needed to be encouraged and needed prayers, God used me. Now I was just on the receiving end. That’s the amazing thing about community. You all won’t be up and at your best at all times. That’s why you need each other because there’ll be times when they need to be carried, and times when you will need to be carried. But you have to want to be carried. Because if you don’t then their efforts to reach out to you will seem like an annoyance. It will seem like they are just wanting to be all up in your business, when they are just responding to the prompts of God, when they are just loving on you.


With just a few months left in this year, and a packed schedule ahead of me, I don’t know how, but I know that God has already gotten me through. God has already secured overcoming, surpassing victory for me. I just have to rely and lean on Him, and I will see it come to pass. I choose to live by faith and not by sight, smell, or feelings. The Lord is my strength and He can be yours as well. 
I am an Occupational Therapist by profession, but I have many roles that bring meaning to my life. In short, I love people, books and love.

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