As I prayerfully write this using a computer keyboard with spell and grammar check and the ability to delete or edit mistakes as I go along, I am reminded of some ancient history.
I was 19 when I arrived on Okinawa with the Air Force in 1962. For the first six months I was assigned as analyst on the second shift working in our secure compound from 4:00 pm to midnight. It was usually very quiet with no one looking over my shoulder, but at the end of each shift I had to create an activity report with my analysis of everything that happened on my shift. There was no computer; just an electric typewriter and continuous feed four ply paper with actual carbon paper between the plies. The pages were perforated but the report had to be continuous and free of errors (any correction would make the copies illegible). Some nights my report was five or six pages long and as I approached the last page, knowing that just one typo would cause me to have to start all over again, my hands would literally tremble above the keyboard. I would stop, pour my fourth or fifth cup of coffee (which didn’t do much for my nerves), clear my mind and then pray for God to steady my hands and help me complete my report without error. That calmed me every time. My prayer life was actually strengthened by the nightly stress of those reports. By the time I got promoted and reassigned to a position on the day shift as supervisor, I was relying on the Lord for peace and strength in everything I did, not just my reports.
Sports trainers and physical therapists will tell you that to build strength you need resistance. The more resistance you work out against the stronger you become (up to a point). We’ve all heard the saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you strong”. You may have thought, as I have, “If that is true, I should be able to bench press a school bus by now”.
Our spiritual resistance usually comes from our own sinful nature on the inside and from the enemy and his minions on the outside. Struggling against both of them strengthens our faith muscles and our prayer muscles. As you know, believers already have the power within us to overcome anything or anyone standing in our way. Our faith and our prayers release that power allowing us to overcome the enemy and even our own sinful nature. God really does cause everything to work together for good. (Romans 8:28) I am so thankful Jesus has made it possible for us to overcome all resistance using it instead as a way to strengthen us.
When I think about how all of the battles in my life have strengthened my faith and my prayer life, it almost makes me want to thank Satan for providing the resistance – ALMOST. I’ll continue to praise God instead for showing me how to use that opposition for good in my life.