"How should we think to earn a great reward... if we now shun the fight?"
It reminded me of the experience I had as a new missionary when I expressed to my trainer that I didn't understand why it was growing increasingly difficult for me out here. Everyone had always told me I'd be good missionary. I had always wanted to be here... so why was it still so hard? In short I honest to goodness thought I was "better than change" so to speak... I thought I could do this mission thing without pain, without adjustment, without homesickness, without loneliness, without doubt. I overestimated myself. And I told her as much. And her response both relieved me as well as rebuked me, and I needed it. She said she had felt the same way... relief. Then she told me something her dad had told her... rebuke: "Why do you think you are exempt? You grow in the fire of affliction NOT bathwater..."
He understood that line in Come, Come, Ye Saints. How can we expect to earn the reward while shunning the fight? If we don't pay the price what are we really going to get? Certainly no experience, no growth, no knowledge... We have to fight for the reward. And believe me... it's a fight to be here. Every day it's a fight. Life is a fight though isn't it?
Paul talks about that in 2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" I have always read that verse (and I grew up with my dad quoting it often) but I have always thought that it was a good mantra for life, at the end of our lives how great would it be to say that? Or even the end of a mission? But recently I have wondered, how great would it be to say that at the end of every DAY?!
In 2 Timothy again, chapter 2 verse 3 & 4 Paul again writes and speaks of fighting the good fight more specifically by being a: "Soldier in Christ"
he says:
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
We all have the chance to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We are taught that as we don't entangle ourselves with worldy affairs because we desire to please him who hath chosen us... that's the motivator, the goal, the reward. We know Christ's army wins. But will we personally win against our own battles overcoming the world and our daily fights and courses to finish?
I want to share a few of the battles I have fought this week to illustrate... Some of them are small and slight and some are bigger and tougher. All are real and all have been fought. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith.
It's a fight to be patient with people that don't let you speak and don't stop talking.
It's a fight to have an increase of love for the ancient lady preaching at you about your religion not believing in Christ as the Son of God and then contradicting herself 20 times and ultimately saying that she doesn't believe that we are all children of God... How sad!
It's a fight to take the man seriously who says "you need to examine your religion...." ....umm I think I could say the same to you sir...
It's a fight not to argue with those who want you to do exactly that... argue
It's a fight to understand how someone can be so prepared for the gospel and who is willing to take off work to go do baptisms for the dead three days after his own baptism... I stand all amazed...
It's a fight to remember the own testimony you've spent 19 years building
It's a fight to trust the Lord and His timing and plan
It's a fight to stay awake during lessons that are 2 hours too long
It's a fight to say to yourself: don't judge them because they sin differently than I do
It's a fight to watch a sweet old woman try to hand you bills to fill out because her tremors are too bad for her to attempt to write
It's a fight to be excited for a new day sometimes
It's a fight to have the only thing stopping you from drinking water to finally break your fast is a 60 year old woman that will not stop talking
It's a fight to prioritize and plan your day knowing it will get shaken up flipped upside down and otherwise flushed down the drain
It's a fight to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong
It's a fight to make a u-turn and go talk to someone you don't want to
It's a fight to not be discouraged when people stand you up
It's a fight to kill a huge daddy long leg with a massive egg sac attached to it... all the while praying it won't burst and have an infestation... ewwwwwww
It's a fight to not crack a smile and a laugh when you say to someone after their retelling you about their horror stories of injuries "so what is the worst injury you've ever had?" And their response is "I had an atomic bomb dropped on me... the lift broke and a 4,000 lb bomb came crashing down and the tail end caught me and trapped me under it and broke both my hips, my legs shattered, my ribs broke, and I was in the hospital for 9 months..." yep that'll do it! The phrase "you dropped a bomb on me" is very literal for this man.
It's a fight to have an eternal perspective
It's a fight to focus on the positive
It's a fight to pull money out of your account for fast offerings
It's a fight to believe that people really will want to join this church after teaching them about all the changes that they need to make and things that will be asked of them
It's a fight to choose obedience over temptation
It's a fight to say a prayer in the morning first thing
It's a fight to keep working when your mind and body is begging you to stop
It's a fight to be here.
But in this fight, we are on the winning team. To earn the great reward we can't shun the fight. We can't do it. We have to be the good soldiers of Him who has called us. Day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute. So that each day we can kneel in prayer and echo with Paul "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" that doesn't mean we are going to be perfect. Perfection isn't found in this life, but we can fight another day knowing that our course is ultimately leading us towards perfection and if we keep the faith we'll get there.
I know this is true
In closing...
2 Timothy 2: 10
Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Paul endured what he did, for the sake of others. In doing so he was emulating Christ who endured what He did for the sake of others as well. In every battle ever fought there was a purpose, there were people to be fighting for. Think of the Title of Liberty in the Book of Mormon, and even modern day wars and battles. There are fights being fought in behalf of and in mind of others. And that's why I am fighting many of my battles... Because I know that there are people out there who are elect and ready to receive the gospel and gear up to fight with us. And they are waiting to be found. Even in a sometimes uphill battle. How grateful am I to have the opportunity to be a "good soldier" I'm not perfect but I'm fighting. And that's what He asks.
And I leave this with y'all to ponder and meditate. How are you a good soldier and how is your fight going? Are you keeping the faith? What's missing? Just like the military there are strict regimens in God's army, how are you measuring up to them? His commandments are meant to protect us and arm us with righteousness. Are you putting them on or leaving them behind trusting that you can do it on our own and are "exempt" from the difficulty? Are you shunning the fight or fighting the good fight? Because it is good, it is oh so very good. And will forever be worth it. Don't let anyone tell you differently.
Alright peace be with y'all
Have a blessed week
DON'T SHUN THE FIGHT!
Love,
Hermana Hall
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