The Fight Within

I am not one to pick a fight, but I’m not really one to back down from one either. I’m not proud of that characteristic about me and I’m working on that daily.  I’m learning to pick my battles and let the Lord speak into that for me. He gives me wisdom and insight that otherwise, I would not possess.  I also don’t think “on my feet” very well. I can usually have a better response when I’ve had some time to process.

There is a fight that goes on inside my heart every day – several fights. The choice between listening to the Spirit of God inside me or my flesh. I will confess that my flesh is often the loudest and garners the most attention. The Lord is still growing me and is so patient with me as I learn that His Spirit is on a “different frequency” and I really need to tune in to hear Him speak.

Samson was a judge for the people of Israel. The scriptures do not speak much of his spiritual leadership. There are a few chapters in Judges that introduce him and his journey from birth. He was a special human being with supernatural strength from God. This guy has always puzzled me just a bit. But I’m trying not to be critical of someone that I feel like there is a lot of his story left unrecorded. Check this out….

¹⁴ As Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting in triumph. But the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists. ¹⁵ Then he found the jawbone of a recently killed donkey. He picked it up and killed 1,000 Philistines with it. ¹⁶ Then Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
    I’ve piled them in heaps!
With the jawbone of a donkey,
    I’ve killed a thousand men!”

¹⁷ When he finished his boasting, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was named Jawbone Hill. (Judges 15:14-17 NLT)

I think Samson struggled between listening to the Spirit of God and his flesh. I think the Lord displayed His Power in Samson. It seems to me that his flesh won some of the internal battles. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and displayed the Presence of God in him.  He is one of the biblical characters that I hope to have a conversation with when I’ve been a heaven for a bit. I’ll be he has even more stories to tell about his unusual strength.

As I read stories in the Bible of these followers of God, I try to learn from their lives, principles that I can use in my own life. I so want the Presence of God inside me to capture my attention even in the midst of my flesh screaming with a bull horn. I want the “still small voice” of God to win the day. I am not as physically strong as Samson for sure. He led God’s people for a season, even though most of these stories are about his incredible physical feats. I sometime wish that the Spirit of God used a bull horn to capture my attention away from my flesh and its desires. I’m going to continue to hone my listening skills by reading and studying His Word. I want to clear time in my schedule to hear from Him and genuinely listen for His Spirit to speak to me.

Pressing On!

Dwayne