Battle Cry

by - May 18, 2011

Listing my own great expectations yesterday made me realize I'm in the wrong fight. We're not supposed to fight to keep up appearances; we're supposed to fight to keep the faith.

Faith is a good fight, but one that's not for the faint of heart. The battle is against pride, lust, envy, and, um ... me. It's a fight for holiness, righteousness and integrity. It turns out that even after all these years of practice, obedience still doesn't come easy. To be victorious we must surrender.

It's not about the appearance of perfection or even the seeing of our imperfections.  What matters is the seeing of things unseen. That's faith that can make us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. That's the housewife I want to be, not the desperate one.  My To-Do List being accomplished has nothing to do with this kind of completion.

So for now, I make war:  on the lies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.  The enemies right now are the pursuit of perfection, unrealistic expectations, competition, and comparisons.

There are enemies.
This is war.
And we are soldiers.

Peace? Well, that will surpass all understanding and guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus while we go into battle and fight the good fight of faith. (Philippians 4:7)    So what are we waiting for? Let's lace up our boots, tramp the battlefield, and reclaim some territory to the glory of God.


Sharing the work in progress that I am at Emily's.





: : :

To read the whole series:

A Desperate Housewife
Battle Cry
Marching Orders
What's Better

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7 comments

  1. Yes! This is so true! I love the battle worn boot being re-constituted to hold growing plants! I started reading Ann Keimel Anderson's "Seduced by Success" last night. This book is about the same battle. Thanks for this post. I'm listening to the Holy Spirit whisper to me through you!

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  2. I love the reminder that "To be victorious we must surrender." And I love your clarity on identifying what your true "enemies" are. And I LOVE the boot that has been reclaimed by succulents. So wonderful!

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  3. Dawn - This is such a great post, identifying that our battle is often against our own expectations rather than someone or something else.

    I wrote about a similar topic today and linked back to here in my Thursday There and Back Again in which I write along with other bloggers from the High Calling network. It was fun to read more about what's going on in your life and to battle with you!

    Blessings!

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  4. To be victorious...we must surrender! We must die completely and commit murder on a daily basis.

    Great words, thank you.

    Embrace His blessings,

    Mrs. M.

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  5. I love the photo! It's so fascinating to look at and totally captures the message of the blog post.

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  6. amen sister! what an encouragement you are!

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  7. pursuit of perfection, unrealistic expectations, competition, and comparisons.

    deadly enemies indeed, I have seen their sneering faces peering out at me in the mirror. So glad I don't fight alone.

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