What do you do when the enemy barricades itself, feels untouchable, and unable to be defeated?  You wait.  And then just when you think you can't wait anymore - you wait some more.

Define your enemy:  memory of a past hurt, an ongoing issue that you can't let go, a pattern of behavior that never ends - enemies.  People are never the enemy.  The enemy is the enemy.  Will the enemy use people?  You betcha!  But those who you think are put on planet earth to destroy you are just pawns.  You see, you have an enemy who prowls around like a lion, seeking someone - YOU - to devour.  Sounds pretty hard core to me.

Judges 9 - one man's rebellion and his tactics to try to fight on his own - concludes my series on "enemies".  There was trouble - as in "right here in River City with a capital "T" that rhymes with trouble" kind of trouble.  The enemy retreated into a strong tower and was out of reach from the one trying to do the capturing.

Feel like the story of your life?  How long have you chased a certain enemy?  Weeks?  Months?  Years?  I've got to be honest and say this body image thing is one of those "how long is this gonna go on" kind of enemies.  Yet ...I still choose to do battle.  I still go into the ring, fists lifted, and eyes focused.

I love a good recap, so let's recap:

• There will always be an enemy.
• I fight from a position of victory.
• There is value in the battle.
• Enemies allow me to ask myself two questions:
• "Will I believe God?"
• "Will I obey God?"
• Avoid the freak out by crying out to God.
• God wants to be the One to fight my battles.
• Comply to God's way to fight.
• Wait for His promise.
• Continue to chase.

The thing about enemies is that they catch us off guard, even if we've come to know they lurk around the corner.  We know there are always enemies.  We've seen our share of them, haven't we?  Yet, when they appear, we freak.  Ok, lest I put words into your mouth, speak for you, and label you as an enemy fearer, I freak.

And when I read in Judges about our friends, the Israelites, I realize I'm in good company.  Despite having seen God do amazing and miraculous things, they freaked when the enemy raised his ugly head.  Human nature.

Yet, my human nature has been replaced and is being replaced with a super-human nature.  I am in Christ.  Therefore, I have the mind of Christ.  And therefore, I have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in me.  Yet, silly me, my "humanness" often gets in the way.

You see Israel had forgotten God.  They had forgotten that enemies were allowed in their lives - by God - to test obedience and belief toward God.  They were stuck in a rut of disobedience and disbelief.  They had gotten themselves into a pattern of doing exactly what God told them not to do (follow other gods) and then - just when you thought all hope was gone - they cried out to God.  They asked for directions.

Sometimes, they waited a really long time to cry out - like 80 years long.  But, when they cried out to Him, He answered.  Always.  He answered.


Simple.  Yet profoundly difficult.  My natural tendency is to solve the problem, get help on my own, get help from others, do the next best thing, Google, stress - in general FREAK OUT!  And then this is where the rubber meets the road if you are a Believer.  We are not slaves to our natural tendencies.  We are lifted to a supernatural newness that calls us out of the rut, past the freak out, and on to a place of total dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday, I walked.  As I walked around the Augarten (a park near my apartment), I felt really good.  Despite my yoga pants and tight fitting sleeveless shirt, I knew I was doing something healthy for my body.  I started off just walking and talking (not to myself but to God).  The more I talked, the better I felt.  Then, my mind drifted.  I began to chase fears.


Do you see the humanness of my humanity?  Not because I'm a superhero but because I've learned to become a warrior, I stopped the madness in my mind.  I began reminding myself of what God says about me.  I cried out, asking God to fill me, my mind and my Spirit with His truth.  And He answered.  Every time.  He answers.

When we freak, cry out.  Develop the habit.  He will not fail.

Soon to be ex-Freak "outer",
Christina

Principle:  There will always be an enemy.
Principle:  We operate from a position of victory.
Principle:  There is value in the battle.

So why an enemy in the first place?  Good question!  One that I found an answer for in Judges 3:1 - 11.  Let's go back to our good friends, the Israelites.  When they reached the place God had promised them, full of full-time residents, they had to fight.  These enemies were left (God did it on purpose) to test Israel.  In fact, if I may quote Judges 3:2, "He (God) did it to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience with battle."

Enemies test two questions:
Will I obey God?
Will I believe God?

Without an enemy, Israel would never know the meaning of faith.  Faith is faith only when it is tested.  The enemy was designed to be used by God to test their faith and their belief in what God had already told them.  They were positioned for victory:  You will take the land.  Test came.  They didn't fight their enemy.  Long-term, their lack of fighting their enemy caused them to sin.  Instead of positioning themselves as Victors, they assumed the position of Victim.

Ok, ok - this all sounds so holy.  Obey God.  Believe what He says.  Yadda yadda.  Real life example I'm right in the middle of:  health.

I have faced the enemy of food for years.  Sounds weird, doesn't it?  Something designed to nourish - when misused - can serve to destroy.  I know that in 2000, God did something in my heart that changed the way I look at food.  However, my aging body has done things - like morph and transition - that frankly freaks me out.  Years of labeling foods as "unclean" and "forbidden" have reduced my metabolism to a less than stellar functioning organ that results in a body that refuses to budge in size.  The amount of food I eat should not result in the size of my jeans.

Just keeping it real, but I really don't like what I see in the mirror.  Another long-term enemy that I know God is battling.  My role is to keep fighting.  So what does fighting look like?:

1.  Every time I hear the Holy Spirit tell me to eat something I have put on my "forbidden" list - I eat it.
2.  Every time I look in the mirror and start condemning each flaw I see - I reject what feels like truth.
3.  Every time I go out for a walk - I pray.  I pray that health trumps pant size and the joy of health will trump the temporary high of a reduced number of the scale.
4.  I trust God even when I see no result.
5.  I believe God when He tells me what He thinks of me (Truth) - even if I don't think the same thing (Fact).

You see it's acts of obedience in the face of what you normally do - and have done - that fights our enemies.  And then - because God is for us, has placed us in positions of victory, and is fighting for us - something happens.  If you've fought your own battle then you know about what I'm talking .  Warriors have moments when they see the enemy defeated without explanation.  When what I do (that should not be enough to destroy something way bigger than myself) is defeated, I know that something supernatural has taken place.  God comes in.  He fights the battle.  When what I knew would take years of "work" and effort is completed effortlessly, I know God showed up.

Today I battle by putting on my yoga pants, sleeveless work out top, running shoes, and my brave face to go walk.  Tomorrow, I know victory comes.  Just as a gal named Deborah in Judges 4 believed God for victory, I believe the same promise she was given:  "Get ready!  The Lord is marching ahead of you."  It may not come tomorrow, or the next day, but it WILL come.  And believing this truth is a battle won!!

Warrior Princess,
Christina

I joined a gym.  It's a "girl gym" called ... are you ready for this one ... Mrs. Sporty!  It's in my neighborhood.  Pink and white balloons fly outside, signifying to the world that girls are inside trying to get healthy.  I like it.  It makes me feel like ... well... a girl.

I had my first "trainings Termine".  This is where I got the scoop on the gym, the machines, and got a full check-up.  My trainer girl asked questions about health, nutrition, activity.  I hung my head and answered her with low and hushed tones. (big smile)

Then, we walked to the inevitable scale. (Insert creepy music here!)  I climbed aboard.  Not only did it measure my weight (gasp) but it also calculated body fat, mass, water, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  Then, at the end, as if the truth of the numbers were not motivation enough to get up and move, it calculated my metabolism age.  Mine:  61.

I struggle, have struggled, and am struggling with body image.  This is nothing new as it has consumed most of my life.  I've had periods of breakthrough and periods of extreme self-discipline.  However, with the numbers on my human time line reading 46 and the realization that I feel a whole lot older than those digits, I know its time to do something.

This is not a "me" thing.  The Holy Spirit has been nudging, gently, for a long time.  There are things that have kept me back and I'm ready for those things to be broken!  I am being candid and real and will continue to do so because I don't think I'm the only gal out there who struggles with this body thing.  It's real.  It keeps us down.  It keeps us from living in freedom.

For me ... I'm tired of it and I'm fighting back in the power of the Holy Spirit ... and strapping on some gym shoes in response!

More to come ... and more to experience,
christina