If you are on my site, chances are you’re going through a very difficult time right now. This season may feel as if you are being attacked personally, as if the person you thought would be your lifetime partner, is now your enemy and that you are surrounded. Listen closely. Lean in. I’ve got a big secret for you. This battle has already been won. If God is for you, who can be against you? Because you are his chosen child, you are not alone and He is your protector, conqueror, eternal victor and steadfast armor. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be adversity or people who oppose you. It means that having God alongside you and within you is a victory already won – you are automatically on the winning side! Knowing that he has gone before you and your future has already been secured should dramatically change your perspective and give you hope and peace. Instead of living in a defensive mode, arms up in fight mode, trying to protect yourself from suffering – learn to follow Him boldly, wherever he takes you. Think of this season as training... He is teaching you how to lean on him completely without defenses. Know, truly know, He has already won the battle for you. Let go and take a deep breath. Three strategies come to mind when I write about adversity: 1) My battle song. When I have been at my most fragile times of pain or fear, I have a battle song that I play and sing in my head throughout the day or scream out loud to remind me God is near “Surrounded – Fight my Battles” by Michael Smith. What is your battle song? Don’t have one? GET ONE! 2) Next, I tell myself that like the Israelites, this hard time is my wilderness of Zin. It’s my valley to walk, lean on God for my very basics of strength and sustenance, and that He has something very important to teach me. This difficult season is a very important learning season. I thank Him advance for whatever I will learn. I'm about to get stronger. 3) When anxiety is extremely high, I visually see myself putting on the armor of God, layer by layer. Stepping into the armored suit, the linked chains of protection, clink of the chains as they rattle, the weight of the heavy armored chest plate to protect my heart, the iron helmet to protect my mind. I see and physically feel God’s protection. I feel the weight of His presence and protection. Read Roman 8:18-39. I like the Message Bible. You may roll your eyes at that, but it helps me talk with my God in ways I can bite. Choose the translation that fits best for you. (I need to write the author Paul a little love note.) Dear Paul, you are sooooo on target, a true ambassador of writing from what you saw, touched, who you interviewed and talked to, so perfectly capturing the inspiring words delivered to you from our God. How you have pulled me from depths so many times. Can't wait to meet you in Heaven, Sir! Romans 8:31-39 – "So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put every thing on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even point a finger. The ONE who died for us – who was raised to life for us! – is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not huger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture… None of this fazes us, because Jesus loves us." Know that there is no suffering you are experiencing that Jesus has not gone through. Hebrews 11:34-12:2 – "Strip off every weight that holds us down. Jesus has gone before us. He is the trailblazer. He has experienced the weight of the world… and was brutally persecuted for who he was for us." Can I hear an AMEN?!?!