Christianity, at times, can be broken up into phases. You have the happy phase, where you take your bible everywhere you go, and say “Amen” after every statement that you agree with, even when you aren’t in church. Then, you have the phase where you start feeling conviction and you start giving up stuff. You start going on extreme fasts, stop talking to certain people, and stop listening to certain music. It’s tough at first, but then God does something that blows your mind and you realize that it’s all worth it. Usually following this phase is probably one of the toughest phases: The Showdown.
Have ever seen a old western? There’s a battle in the middle of the desert. The good guy stands on one end, and the bad guy at the other. The wind is blowing. A tumbleweed rolls across. There is no audience, only two people with one goal: to be the last one standing.
Many times, when we face the old person that we used to be and the new person that God has created us to be, we find ourselves in that desert. There isn’t always someone cheering us on and telling us we can do it. Even with an awesome support system and a praying grandmother, at the end of the day, it comes down to you, and that mirror reflection looking back at you.
This Showdown is the part of our relationship with God that can lead us down to different paths in our walk. Both paths are based off of the decisions that we make. If we decide to succumb to the familiar reflection of what we used to do, who we used to be, and how it is inevitable that we will eventually fail, then we will find ourselves on the path leading us away from newness. We will become subject to cycles in our Christian walk, continually making the same mistakes over and over again. Our self esteem will get lower and lower and we will adopt the mindset of “What’s the point?”
But if we decided to see the opponent for who they are, then we will have a different outcome. This isn’t a stranger. This isn’t someone with a secret weapon, or a hidden talent. This is me. I know my patterns, secrets, fears, and weakness. I know what signs to look for before I give up, and what mistakes I’ve made to get to the point where I’ve had to face myself. And most importantly, I know how to defeat myself: pulling on God’s strength to overtake my weakness and my opponent. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “ And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” The only way that we can win the showdown with ourselves, is by being weak enough for God to fight it for us. Once we do that, then the real showdown happens!
How many times have you found yourself battling your own reflection? How has God shown you His strength in your weakness? It’s testimony time, let’s hear it!
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