What Are You Fighting For?

This post is for all of my friends and family who are in active healing, or maybe you know someone who needs to hear this.

How we line up our thoughts and actions impact our healing outcomes. Do you believe that?

When we are in a fight for our life, we must stay focused. The enemy of our soul knows exactly how to get us distracted from that which matters.

When I turn on the television and I see the chaos that is ensuing in the world today, I see so much rumbling that can be overwhelming at times. I also see the efforts of so many people trying to make things right, but fighting with the wrong armor.

In 2015, my favorite film was War Room. It was a film that highlighted a woman’s journey to reclaiming her family, the people of prayer that she encountered along the way, and manner that she won the battle. Her war strategy was not something that came natural. It had to be taught.

As I was scrolling through my social media page this week, I saw people who are normally friends opposing one another. Whether it is politics, mask wearing, or social injustice, the world is hurting and there is only one answer, and HE levels everything.

As a believer in Christ, we all need to be sensitive to what causes others pain. That requires us to listen with spiritual ears and hearts of compassion. The deep wounds of our brothers and sisters won’t be solved with a social media post or comment expressing whose right or wrong. All that does is drive a deeper chasm of pain and creates increased stress in our own lives – and unwelcomed stress is a great big NO!

Can I just take a moment to speak frankly to the ones who are healing?

When we are suffering and healing, it’s not our time to take up banners. It’s a time to be at and seek God’s peace. When I was healing from cancer 11 years ago, I wasn’t on any social media, thank goodness. I did, however, have a phone line that would ring constantly. Well-meaning people wanted to check on me and when they found out I was doing something different, a little unconventional — well, let’s just say, the responses on the other line were stressful.

A tipping point for me was when one of our close friends called my husband and told him to “get ahold of her and set her straight.” – that I’m going to die if I didn’t change my course of action. It wasn’t my fight to make that person understand. I had to stay focused. I finally stopped taking calls. It was upsetting me. My husband answered the phone calls. I didn’t even listen to my voice messages unless Jeff screened it first. As the stress of our everyday lives continued to grow, we had to make difficult decisions for my health. We even left our church where we both served on leadership teams and joined a different church – allowing for us a season of rest. I’m not advocating that for anyone, but we did what we needed to do to concentrate on what we knew was best for our family.

We made the decision to cut out toxic people, to put up some boundaries and that included some close family friends. I trusted my husband with the conversations. I did a lot of emotional work, reading God’s word and I concentrated on the nutritional and detox protocol. Healing is a process and it takes intentional effort.

The enemy of our soul knows our weaknesses and he will try everything to bring us into another fight.

The world is groaning right now, but what I want to say to all of you who are in the throes of healing from cancer or other disease….that’s your battle! Everything else that is non-essential, is a distraction.

Put on your armor (Ephesians 6). Suit up. Stay focused on what’s important for you.

The Armor of God

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Ecclesiastes is a book in the Old Testament that was written by King Solomon. It’s perhaps a reflective narrative on what he learned in life…what really matters. It’s not the easiest book to read; however, it has a gem of a passage that I want to share with you.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I encourage those of you who are reading this, who are experiencing stress in your life due to the circumstances around you, get alone with God. Pick up a journal. Write to Him the hard questions. Pray. Read His Word, the Holy Bible. It’s Good News. Be quiet. Listen to His still small voice. Let Him fight your battles for you. All you have to do is join Him on your knees!

His voice is not one you will hear when the TV is on loud, or when you are allowing the voices in your head to rule your emotions. Discipline yourself to listen for His voice.

Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.”

And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind.

After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.

And after the fire came a still, small voice. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 1 Kings 11-13

I know things right now are so upside down and inside out, but I believe God is calling us to Himself in a time to discern His voice. He wants our spirits to be strong. He desires our souls to be free and at peace. Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you.

Tune your spiritual eyes and ears through His Word, and please — don’t get distracted from your healing.

Want to learn more about how to fight on your knees, the promises of God’s Word and how to gain His peace? Click here to join us on Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST for prayer and/or 10:00 a.m. for HEAL Bible Study: Gospel of Luke.

HealingStrong desires to be a source of encouragement, connection and strength for you. I know things are difficult right now. Stay strong. Stay focused. YOU CAN DO IT!

So much love,

Suzy