Warrior
Dan Kunz
A week or so ago, I witnessed an epic battle, not Epic Fury, but an epic battle, nonetheless. The battle was waged by a fearless warrior, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day for three straight days. The warrior rose early and engaged the enemy all day long, with only brief rest periods. Finally, after three days, the warrior gave up. He could not vanquish his foe. He was resigned to defeat. Who was his enemy? Himself! Who was the fearless warrior? A male robin! For three days this robin saw his reflection in one of our upstairs windows and proceeded to do battle, flailing against his opponent with outstretched wings and puffed out chest. Again and again and again he buffeted the window to no avail. The enemy remained proud and strong. Humorous, but sad was the battle.
Do you ever feel like that robin? Your intentions are good. You rise up early and continue the battle all day long. You go to bed exhausted, only to resume at daybreak. Like the determined robin, we often battle against ourselves. Maybe the fight is with a particular sin which keeps assailing us. Maybe the fight is with a personal characteristic which we see as a character flaw. Maybe the fight is with our own doubts or perceived weaknesses. We are determined that today will be different, and yet at the end of the day we are no farther along than we were yesterday. If only that robin had help. If only that robin had someone who could vanquish the enemy for him.
We have that help. We have that hero who can step in and defeat the “man in the mirror”. His name is Jesus and he is on our side. Isaiah 12:2: "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation." And again, Romans 8:38-39 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus, the one who came to earth to live the perfect live and die the perfect death in our place, rose again to show he had conquered all our enemies. He is our strength. We don’t fight our daily battles alone, like the poor, hapless robin at my window.
Our enemies, the devil and our own sinful pride, would try to convince us that, “We’re good enough, we’re smart enough, and we’re strong enough.” (Stuart Smiley) Deep down we know that’s not the case. It is God who makes us “good”, “smart”, and “strong”. When we acknowledge we can’t do it on our own and ask God for help, he comes to us with help and healing. Jesus showed his humility in many ways during his earthly sojourn. We need to follow that example and admit he is our power source; he is our “generator” in stormy weather. Without him we are like a prideful robin who accomplishes nothing. With him we are conquerors who will defeat any and all enemies, including ourselves!