Fighting From a Distance

I spend a lot of time in a room by myself It is easy to feel cut off from the world, cut off from what God is doing I spend time reading, praying, talking on the phone, and a lot of time sitting in front of a computer, typing. I do my best to discern what God would have me do, and often He asks me to do more praying and writing. So, once again I find myself in a room alone. I find myself struggling to feel useful, struggling for the dignity that comes from accomplishing something of consequence, something useful, something important.

Today I talked with a friend. She shared with me all the things that she had seen God do through her and through her husband in the last few weeks. I rejoiced with her and was overjoyed to hear the way that God had worked and glorified Himself in and through them. After I got off the phone I was once again alone in my office. I found myself feeling bothered and wondering why God was using them while I was stuck here in my room. I started to feel jealous and upset that I was sitting here and doing commonplace things while they were out on the battlefield winning great victories for God. As I started to feel bitter I was suddenly reminded of the way that God moved me to pray for them before and during their ministry trip. I got a sort of picture in my head.

I was like a man standing on a battlefield immediately following a battle. Our side had won the battle and I felt joy and satisfaction. But, I was not a soldier. I was looking on not as one who had fought on the front lines to vanquish the foe, but as one who had trained the soldiers, one who had helped them form strategies, one who had provided the weapons with which they fought. None of the glory was mine, and yet I had played a significant part in the battle. In fact, the battle could not have been won if not for me and for others who had supported the troops who fought.

As I reflected on this picture I realized that there is a joy and a sense of triumph that is rightfully mine when a victory is won by those whom I support. I feel a sense of ownership and accomplishment through my participation in the work. I will get no accolades and no glory, but in some way I share in the victory by doing the tasks that He has assigned to me. I play a part on the battle even though I am not on the battlefield. All the work is God’s. All the plans are God’s. All the battles are God’s. All the victories are God’s. Therefore, all the glory is God’s.

But God uses means to accomplish His goals, and He usually uses men to do His work. My part of the work may not be glorious in the eyes of man, or my own eyes for that matter, but it is the work that He has uniquely gifted and called me to do. The part that I play is the part that He has assigned to me. Only He knows the master strategy, only He knows the end from the beginning. The victory and the glory are His alone, but He gives us dignity by investing us with real power to make a difference. He gives us the ability to make real choices. From the very beginning God has chosen to work through Man on earth. He gave Adam and Eve the ability to make choices. Their choice to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree has had drastic repercussions for all of humanity. The fact is that we all make choices everyday without having the slightest idea of the potential consequences for even the most mundane decisions; even so, our choices matter.

I have to choose everyday to listen and obey His voice and to obey His commands, even in the seemingly ordinary things of life. We each have a role to play, a role in His plan, a contribution to make to His victory, a task that will contribute to His glory. If He wants me to write and to pray then there is nothing else that I can do that will bring Him more glory than that. If we each do our part, we will be doing all that we can to see His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.