Some years ago a friend of mine said those very words to the Lord. At the time, she was weary from the battles of life and ministry. She was fatigued from the constant pressure of pushing back the powers of darkness in her own life and in the lives of those around her.
I'll never forget the Lord's response to her as she voiced her frustration. "What is an army for, if not to fight?" He said. "You'll either be fighting or retreating from now until Jesus returns!"
Those words come as a shock to some Christians. They don't want to be warriors. They want a comfortable, easy life. They want to lie back, take it easy, and go on a spiritual vacation. But that's not what we as believers are called to do.
We're called to "Fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 6:12). We are an army and we are at war, "not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:12).
God has given us spiritual weapons that are "...mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds" (2 Cor. 10:4). He has given up His own armor (see Eph. 6:10-18). In other words, He has equipped us to be spiritual soldiers in the army of the Lord.
Victorious Words From a Victorious Soldier
Now, in every army there are good soldiers and sloppy soldiers. There are soldiers who win battles and conquer enemy territory, and there are soldiers who fail and lose ground.
I want to be a good soldier for the Lord, don't you? I want to drive the devil back and advance the kingdom of God.
The Apostle Paul was that kind of soldier. He was a man of victory. He triumphed in every circumstance. The devil tried to stop him again and again with persecutions, beatings and trouble of every kind. But Paul kept right on marching in victory, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, working miracles and building the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eventually, Paul was put in prison and in chains. Imagine how terrible the conditions in prison must have been in those days! No doubt, the devil expected that to stop Paul, but it didn't. Instead of lying down and feeling sorry for himself, Paul used his time in prison to write most of the New Testament. Prison didn't even slow him down.
Just look at the victorious words Paul wrote when his life on this earth was through:
"The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
Aren't those wonderful words? I want to be able to say words like that when I come to the end of my earthly life. I want to know that I have fought the good fight—and won!
Someone might say, "Well, Gloria, that was the Apostle Paul! He was special. We can't all be like him."
Why not? We have the same Savior Paul had. We're filled with the same Holy Spirit. We even have the words he wrote to Timothy, his precious son in the faith, just before he departed this life - instructions that Paul knew would enable Timothy to be a victorious soldier of the Cross just as he had been.
I encourage you to fight on! Just like Paul, we can certainly be victorious as well.
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries