The Battle Is Not Yours

In life we are faced with battles on every hand. Some people believe that the only battles that we are faced with, is the battles of war between countries, nations, and people. the biggest battle that we are faced with in this life, is ourselves. What is our purpose of being here? There was a young man who grew up in the urban area of Chicago, it seemed as if his community was dying and he was searching to find the meaning of life. After various failures in successes through life’s journey, he found himself at the tender age of 16 wanting to end it all. One day he decided to take a gun that one of his relatives kept in their homes and figure out what would be his fate. He stood in the middle of the floor deciding would he continue on or end his life.What makes a young man come to this point in his life, where he contemplates upon killing himself? What brings a person to the point where he or she wants to quit? The psalmist tells us in the third verse that the sorrows of death compassed me. Or for better words, the sorrows of death were all around me.

Just like this young man who was contemplating on giving up on life, the sorrows of death are all around us. We live in a time where the bible quoted, in the last days perilous times shall come. This is a time where children have to grow up more than likely, without their father. This is a time where men are not the leaders of the home, but men have almost lost their place. This is prevalent in the urban home, where most of our fathers are in prison and the ones that are not, seem to be landing as vulchers only to eat and moving on never cultivating a home to raise a family. The sorrows of death are all around us. Men are no longer called fathers but sperm donors, no longer called men of honor, but baby daddies. It was a time when America was based on a patriarch society, where men took care of the home, raised their kids and provided, but now it has turned into a matriarch society where women are having to play multiple roles. Instead of the women nurturing the children, she now has the responsibility of nurturing, financing, and rearing the family. This breakdown of the family is grabbing a hold on our youth, and our society is losing the battle. The man at one time represented the vision, the man represented the sight or the spiritual direction of the family and the bible says in Proverbs 29:18, where there is no vision, the people perish, but it wasn’t long ago, where we all had a vision. we all remember when a man stood in front of thousands and said those famous words, I have a dream that one day. That man dreamed a changed society, a nation that was better, a community that was better, a people that was better, but today that dream has drowned and that young man contemplating suicide felt as the Psalmist says, the sorrows of death were all around him, and he stood as most of us stand, wondering what is the value of life and he found himself losing the battle.

The sorrows of death are all around us. Our communities are drug infested, music molested, and people disrespected. It seems as if no one can make it out. How can we get through this life where every other block, men are on corners selling poison to their own people, not respecting themselves or could care less about the value of human life. How can we live brothers and sisters when the music we cator to demeans our women, sexually, emotionally, and physically. How can we live when guns are now easily assessible, and to take another mans life is as easy as going to school. The sorrows of death are all around us and that young man fell victim of circumstance. He fell victim of an environment and eventually as the Psalmist states, the pains of hell will grab a hold upon you. It seems as if its choking the life out of our communities.

When the pains of hell grab a hold of you, whether its from environment, or family, you understand that without Jesus your surroundings will eventually bring you down. That young man like most of us found himself being choked by his surroundings, and he found himself in a place where his soul could not get rest. Your soul contains your flesh and your spirit joined together as one. Your soul contains your emotions. Its when you laugh, when you cry, when your happy, when your sad, and if your soul dies, you die to. That young mans soul could not get rest. A secular song writer once asked the question, what do you believe in heaven or hell, and he summed up the matter and said we must believe in heaven because we’re living in hell. I don’t believe for one moment that we live in hell because hell is eternal fire and damnation, and satan has grabbed a hold on our communities, on our people, and on our youth, and eventually we all will find trouble and sorrow, but the battle is not ours. The bible says that in this life we all will face trials and tribulations. That means trouble will be on your left hand side, sorrow may be on your right, pain may be behind you, sickness may be in front of you, but the bible says be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. You have to have a Godly mindset in order to weather these battles. And what I mean by a Godly mindset, you have to know that when trouble is on the left, When sorrow is on your right, when pain is in the back, someone once said, God will keep you, God will sustain you, there nothing to big, nothing to small, but when it comes to battle Jesus Christ wins them all. That young man faced with the problems of life where sorrow was all around him, he found himself drowning in life’s difficulties, he found himself losing the battle, but hold on young man, hold on young people, hold on adults, and do what the psalmist says, Then I called upon the name of the Lord. Don’t let the sorrows of death and the pains of hell meet you at the crossroads of life, where you find yourself not knowing what to do, but call on the name of the lord, because the battle is not yours. The bible says in Matthew 11:28- come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. so many others have been in situations and it looked as if hell was all around them and the Lord delivered their soul. When I think about the Hebrew Boys, when they would not bow down to the golden skeptre, they were thrown in the fiery furnace, but Hebrew boys, the battle is not yours, When Moses got to the edge of the red sea, he had no where to go, no where to turn to, Moses the battle is not yours, Job I know you lost your children, your possessions, it seems like you lost everything, but Job the battle is not yours. David the psalmist of this text was just like this young man who was faced with adversity. Saul was seeking David’s life and he found himself being preyed upon by the enemy, but David knew differently then this young man, David knew that the battle belonged to the lord, he couldn’t fight this one on his own, and he did not just say help me oh Lord, but he said, Deliver My Soul. He knew that it is power when you call on the name of the Lord. It’s healing when you call on the name of the Lord.