The Good Fight - Skye Chuah
Birth and death are the two bookends of our earthly sojourn. In between the day we enter the world to the day we leave, we measure our lives around milestones like birthdays, marriage, the birth of our child, graduations, promotions… and the list goes on.
The apostle Paul wrote these words near the end of his life.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)
It’s a wonderful scripture, I have read this verse many times and felt inspired to run a good race. But what does fighting the good fight look like?
After all, real life isn't a Marvel movie. Villains are not as obvious, your trials are not as black and white and the weapons of our warfare can seem like they don’t yield immediate or visible impact. Instead, life has many hidden seasons and in between all the milestones we celebrate and mark our lives. In saying this, many of our days and daily tasks can feel mundane and unknown.
But, guess what? Those mundane and unknown days are where we learn to fight well.
Here are some keys to fight the good fight, on a daily basis.
DO THE MUNDANE WELL
Brother Lawrence, widely regarded as “the kitchen saint” lived in the 1600s and spent his days in the kitchen of the monastery he served at. Visitors described how they would walk into the kitchen and be astounded by the presence of God or see Brother Lawrence weeping as he cooked and cleaned ‘cause God’s presence was so real in the kitchen. How amazing is that?
There’s a fight for your
attitude and perspective.
Life may feel like poopy diapers and never ending laundry, or a vicious corporate grind or repeated academia rigours but whatever your routine is, you can insert God into your daily life and see the mundane transformed.
Personally, I like to pray in tongues when I do household chores. I’ve found that when I lean in to God’s presence, He delights to show up. As a newlywed 12 years ago, I was stuck on a recipe in the kitchen where the pasta sauce just would not thicken. Dreading a badly cooked dinner, I asked God for help and heard Him say “take the sauce off the stove”. I did so, and the cream sauce immediately thickened (yes, I didn’t know that’s what needed for cream to thicken back then)!
Yes, God gave me a cooking tip and if you ask Him to, He wants to be involved in every bit of your life, even the mundane.
BE FAITHFUL IN THE SMALL THINGS
Our culture values and highlights the big moments. More than ever, becoming famous is a pursuit. It’s easy to become drawn only to pursue what’s recognised like your profile, the stage or even public acclamation.
As believers, we should fight this myopia (short-sightedness). Unless you can appreciate small moments, you set yourself up to be perpetually dissatisfied and you won’t be able to learn contentment.
If you find yourself frustrated because you feel stuck in the mill of routine and small things, stop have an honest heart check. Sometimes, we can be doing the small things in hope of a promotion or recognition and acknowledgement and when we don’t get them, the tasks we are doing becomes disdainful to us.
Are you stuck in a long season of sowing but not quite seeing any fruits? Speak to your leaders, get godly advice and don’t despair.
Nothing is wasted in God’s economy. Being faithful in the sowing seasons will train you to be ready for the reaping seasons. Pastor Mark Varughese shared before in a sermon that, “you are not responsible for the direction but you are responsible for your obedience”.
So may I encourage you to stay obedient to what God has called you to and He will make your paths straight.
STAY THANKFUL
It’s the simple things that transforms the mundane. It’s gratitude that breaks up the routine. Thankfulness is a powerful weapon that fights against comparison, complaining and complacency.
What’s the opposite of thankfulness? Entitlement.
Entitlement compares what you have with others and says, “It’s unfair. Why did they get that and I didn’t?” Or “I’ve done so much for the church, I deserve to have more recognition.”
It’s a dangerous orphan mindset that will rob all joy from your life so you need to fight it. Your God is a good Father and He is in control over the entire universe. He will make sure you have all you need that are good for you and if you want something that He hasn’t given you, there is a good reason for it.
Stop comparing. Start truly living. Believe you are who your Heavenly Father says you are. Breath in truth. Breath out heaven. Thank God for the good in your life, for the things you have, for the people you have around you.
Most of us would never fight in a war, or a supervillain but to run our race well, we fight to live every day unto God, we fight to be faith-full, we fight to stay thankful. Let’s fight well together!
Written by Skye Chuah
Skye lives in Johor Bahru, Malaysia with her husband Ray and their two wonderful kids, Alaina and Elijah.