A Man stands upon the battle field. His armour is broken and worn. His legs feel as though they are about to collapse under him, and the sword in his hand may as well be a giant boulder with a handle. He looks in front of him and sees a vast army without mercy, filled with hatred and united to the end of sending him to the next life. He looks behind him so see a ragged group of men who are looking to him to decide whether they run or turn and fight.
He raises his sword and runs towards the opposing army. Though anyone would tell you it is foolishness, his followers pursue with a determination that was teetering on the verge of extinction a moment ago; they know this is the right choice.
There is something about this scene, one I have seen in several movies, that resonates with me. The man who, with no victory in sight chooses to fight on rather than to give up.
Is this man fighting for victory? How can he be? Victory is impossible. He is fighting for something else. We all want that. That deep purpose we can fight for, even when victory is impossible.
But what have we gone to? We men have embraced guaranteed victory, we fight for victory alone. We enter into battles we are almost sure to win, and then we wonder why we are bored.
What about those men who are crushed by feelings of failure? Is it possible that you too are fighting for victory? We need to fight for something, someone else, and there is only one worth pouring all our heart and effort into.
I fight for Jesus Christ. Maybe this sounds cheesy. Maybe too abstract. But it is hard, and I face failure constantly, and sometimes it is too much because I lost track of why I am fighting. In other words, I fight for victory rather than for Him; for love for Him.
Is He valuable enough to fight your whole life, fail everyday, and only see victory on your deathbed? Yes He is that valuable. He is eternal. He has all the power, justice, might, strength and beauty that I long for and then more than I could ever imagine.
For me though, I don’t have enough faith, and He has to give me victory sometimes, otherwise I would crumble. I wish I had more faith, and more love. Faith that I wouldn’t need the reminders of His victory, His strength, and His presence so often to carry on. I hope there are many of you out there that have that kind of faith.
What about you? Maybe you have been running from those battles that you might lose. Maybe the only battles you fight are in warcraft, or at the gym, or vicariously through your favourite sports team or movie. “I always win, just like Bruce Willis”. Ever wonder why Braveheart had more staying power than Die Hard? Because Braveheart speaks to real life: failure, but fighting on. Die Hard is pure victory. Everybody wins. It is fake and you know it, and not just because he tuck-and-rolled his way to safety after falling of a fighter jet.
So my question, and I would say, God’s question is:
Will you fight on today?
