Struggling for God

"So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you.8 Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure". (James 4:7-8)

I struggle. Every day.

I am in a struggle right now, a wrestling match if you will with the enemy.

And it is tough.

Tougher than I ever thought it would be.

What I want -- what I need -- to know is how it looks when we submit ourselves to God... when we seek God with all our heart, our soul and our mind. It's not enough, as Christians, to just pray. We have to be obedient to these others things as well.

I know God's strength is boundless, and I am grateful for it. But why does the struggling hurt so bad?

In 2 Corinthians, I believe, we hear about how Paul was blessed by God with a thorn in his side... a thorn that forced him to rely on Him. Is it selfish not to want that thorn? To want complete release? Or, if I seek complete release, do I then fall back into not relying on God as I should?

My prayer is this: that my God would strengthen me, that He would strengthen my wife and marriage. That He would - through his great power and protection -- get us through this season we are going through, that He would cloak us in his glory and his righteousness, and surround us with His protection, love and grace. Like David, surveying the battlefield, I know that we have already won the victory. It's the continual battle that is wearying.

But, we praise God for every struggle for in Him, we find our rest and our renewal.