Winning life’s battles

Winning the battles of life requires strategies. The best strategies come from God. Human strategies are not effective as they are born out of anger, spirit of revenge, fear and anxiety. In God’s eyes any strategy that lacks love is not a good strategy. And any strategy that is void of trust in God for its success will fail. For instance, Moses messed up things when he, out of anger, killed the Egyptian who was striving with his fellow Hebrew. His spirit of intervention was noble for it is wrong to allow social injustice and oppression to flourish. But his method or strategy of killing was wrong since it was not divinely supported. Instead of intervening as a peacemaker and a minister of reconciliation between the two rivals, he allowed the spirit of racism and intolerance and tribalism to dictate the method. He messed up full time and incurred divine punishment. After doing what he thought was the best thing in the battle of life and won the battle between humans, he lost the battle between his flesh and the Spirit of God. He had to smart from his mess for forty years in the wilderness.
How many times have you reacted rashly to the battles of life and failed dismally? The inspiration and the spirit of fighting were quite in order but the strategies you employed were futile. The strategies failed you dismally. You even regret having done it that way. You were justified to take action because they were treating you like a door mat while they treated themselves like pedestals. But was your action the best in the given circumstances? You were right to dismiss them from your life because they were getting into your nerves. But did you dismiss them lovingly and prayerfully? Just as wisdom is justified by her fruits so are your actions justified by the results. If the results of your actions do not fill your heart with peace then you messed up. But if you have peace about the results then you got a divine nod.
You have got a piece of advice here and you do well to heed it: Never take action whilst angry. An angry person never acts rationally and wisely. Never make final decisions out frustrations and disappointments. The statement: think before you act, is a safety valve. If consistently applied in life it will save us many pains and regrets. “If only I had not done it in the first place” is a confession of one who has messed up. The Bible says that a prudent man foresees evil and hides himself but a fool proceeds carelessly and gets punished.
If you want to win the battles of life learn to be prudent, that is exercising sound judgment and foresight. See the results before you act. If you are not sure of the outcome then stand still and wait for divine instruction and guidance.
Divine guidance takes many forms: stand your ground and fight as in the case of David versus Goliath, run away as in the case of Joseph versus Potiphar’s wife, march around the Jericho wall, skilful surrender, sing and worship towards the enemy and so on. However, in most cases God instructs you to fear not, stand still and wait for His salvation. But we would rather say something than hold our peace. We would rather act foolishly than be still.    
The most frequent battles among people these days are marital, financial, and spiritual. Most women are battling for stability and peace in their marriages after their husbands get entangled in extra-marital affairs. Here we have a delicate battle. If the wife carelessly confronts the erring husband, he may become defensive, nagging and shift all the blame on her resulting in worse conditions. Keeping quiet may not help matters as the unconfronted husband may think that he is getting away with it. What is the solution then? Be still and know from God the suitable strategy.
It is quite frustrating and disturbing to lend a friend or a relative some money and they fail to pay back. Confiscating their property or possessions to settle the matter may not be the best solution because it is an unlawful act. Just letting them go free makes you feel robbed, impoverished and treated unfairly. But how can you settle the matter amicably? Be still and know from God the best way.  
You can emerge victorious in each battle of life only if you follow instructions of the God of battles. God can be trusted to give you success strategies because He sees life from a vantage point and His resources are unlimited. All He requires from you is prompt obedience, total co-operation and a trusting heart.
– Mairos Mubvumbi is the founding pastor of Hope In Christ Ministries. You can send your prayer request on 077      2889766 or mairos78@yahoo.co.uk