Have you ever found yourself in a good-old-fashioned fist fight? At ten years old, I was confronted with a confrontation that sent chills through me. It was a perfectly wonderful day, until a friend of mine came to me as I sat alone on her back porch waiting for her. My house was right next door, and I could've waited there, but I chose to be at her house that afternoon.

 

Suddenly, she came bursting through the door excited, and announcing, "Sherry wants to fight you!"

 

My heart sank, as she turned away to head back outside to the front of the house. This was the bully I had tried my best to avoid at-all-cost. My house was only a few houses away from the mailbox to the right. My house was also a few houses away from the corner-store to the left. However, I found it necessary to take the scenic route; going through the alley, over to the next street, then climbing the steepest street I've ever seen, just to put my mother's mail in the mailbox; which was located on the corner of our street.

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The trip to the corner-store was also a major journey through the alley, and then walking two streets over, just to get to the corner-store down the street from my house. I was trying my best to avoid that bully, yet one of my own friends came bearing the message of bad news.

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After she left, I sat for a moment just pondering how I could escape. I had my house key, but I could only get in through the front door. Either way I ran, I would still have to face her because she was just outside my front door. When no escape was feasible for me, anger began to dominate me. I got up, walked to the front door of my friend’s house, then stepped outside to a crowd of on lookers waiting for a good fight. The problem for me was, I didn't know how to fight. That's why I made it my life's purpose to avoid her completely.

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I walked off the front porch toward the crowd, then stepped face-to-face with my bully (#4 of many). "I heard you said you wanted to fight me," she sneered.

 

Lie, I thought, as the crowd rallied to her evil cause. Before my mind could articulate the situation, I took a small step backward, then threw the first punch. Halfway through the fight I stumbled over my own foot and fell. She politely waited for me get up and jump back into the fight.

 

As I was turning to get up off the ground, I noticed the teenaged boy across the street laughing himself into tears. But this was no laughing matter to me, I was fighting for my life, or so I thought. Then as quick as it began, it was over. I walked away from the crowd and back to my own house. To this day, I cannot tell you how I felt or what I was thinking. But I can tell you that she never harassed me or my little sister again.

 

As much as I tried to avoid confrontation with her or any off the other bullies, because of fear, I realized that sometimes, you just have to fight. There is no escaping the fight when your life is dependent upon it. Well, that was just one of the many battles I have had to step into. Some were physical, while others were spiritual and the two major keys that always assisted me were "faith" and "righteous anger."  I relied on God's strength and not my own. I was a physical weakling with a heart condition, but I was also spiritually illiterate. Yet, when the time to engage in the battle presented itself, I had to take a stand or perish.

 

Fear is a tyrant that always tries to keep us under its control. The Devil is the #1 bully, and fear is his #1 tactic for getting us to bow to his evil will or flee, which shows him that he still has the upper hand. If he can put us in fear, then he has the advantage. God uses faith for us, to strengthen us. However, the Devil uses fear against us, to weaken us.

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In First Timothy 6:12, The Word of God tells us to "Fight the good fight of faith." Which means to stand our ground. Be steadfast and unmovable in our trust, hope and faith in God, His Word, and His Will. Even through the fear.

 

Matthew 17:20 (NIV) reminds us, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

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Luke 8:50 (NIV) encourages, “Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, 'Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.’”

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As we can see faith covers a multitude of circumstances. The preacher, Timothy was encouraged to keep his faithful stance in righteousness. While Jairus, was encouraged not to fear but to believe through faith in Jesus, that his daughter (who by the time Jesus spoke to him had already passed away) would be healed.

 

These words of faith will strengthen us when the fears of life and the raging battles present themselves in our lives. Whether we are fighting our way into God's will, fighting our way out of evil, or fighting our way through an unfair circumstance. Let us remember the word of faith in First John 5:4-5 (NIV)“…For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

 

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37, KJV).

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So let us fight the good fight of faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord!!!

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