new territory. new victory.

Judges 3

"These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle." 3:1-2

Oh how I feel this one. Every day.

I have stepped foot right in the middle of a battle field that I thought I had experience in to fight, and in many ways, I do; yet, there is so much in this battle that I have never encountered before, was prepared for, or feel equipped with the right tools to fight with.

Some of the enemies still in the land were there because of disobedience from previous generations. But now God allowed the enemies to remain there as a way to strengthen the faith and obedience of His people. There was so much their ancestors had done before them, but now it was time to stand firm and fight the battle on their own.

This is what I am feeling. Many have gone before me in this battle, but now God has put big obstacles, difficult situations, hard decisions, and hostile neighbors, in my midst in Midtown. Not as a way to discourage me, but as a way to develop my faith and obedience.

If the enemy is attacking, the Lord is winning. I must be doing something right.

Last week I was in Florida for work. I got to spend a few hours just laying on the white sands, on a sunny day, in the cool breeze, with a sore throat and stuffy nose. But, it was still good good good for me. A few years ago I spent many months praying about moving to Florida with my friends to help with their church plant. The Lord even gave me the freedom to choose to go or stay (those were his words to me). When the time came for me to choose, it was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in life. On this side of it, and 3 years later, I was back in Florida where I would have been living and the Lord said to me, while I was laying by the water, "Thank you for choosing to stay. Let me show you all you would have missed if you had gone." and He began to flash pictures of so many things I have been a part of, places I have been, people I have met, and the faces of every one of my kids. It felt like that movie played for hours and hours in my head, and I didn't want it to end.

I am not equipped to handle some of the things I am faced with. Whether it is making a decision on what to do next on the house, or how in the world do you talk to a teenage boy about how he is feeling (I need HELP with this!), but the Lord has put me in this land with all of these obstacles because He is teaching me how to do them. He is taking me to new heights of how to love like Him. He is taking over new territory within me, that will claim new land for Him. And He is certainly testing my obedience to everything He asks of me.

Warfare is real. When I lay down at night after so much has happened in one day, I am exhausted. Not physically, but emotionally drained because of the spiritual battle that rages around me. I am not just fighting against the enemy over my own life, but I stand and fight the enemy with everything I have in me for the life of all my kids. I refuse to let the enemy try to steal, kill, or destroy them.

Obstacles from the Lord, they are a good thing. They are hard, but they are still good.

Yesterday me and the girls went to play by the water. The Lord reminded me that learning how to fight in this battle, with tools I have never used before, would only give me greater victory over lands I have never walked through before. Seeing them play in the water was just a sweet picture of what I am fighting for, and why He has me fighting in these new lands.