In Hope Believed

"Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, "I have made you father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed-- God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." "
--Romans 4:16-18

Going against the grain is what we are called to do. The battle is real, the war is ever-present. Spiritual warfare is perhaps the most brutal out of all of earth's conflicts. Then again, you cannot even compare them with earth's conflicts, it is not of this world, the world is only the staging ground. This battle, this war, far supersedes the trivial goals and aims of earthly battles and wars (while they still play a part of the spiritual battle). Lately, I have struggled finding and committing myself to either side. Sometimes I question my true motives: the intention behind the reason, the reason behind the thought, the thought behind the action. I must guard my heart from all temptations and attempts by the world, myself, and the devil to steer me down paths of doom... leading me to unbelief, complacency, vain lusts and calousness. I must keep my heart as a bastion of purity and compassion, of perseverance and awareness, of duty and selfless sacrifice, building my character as a man of God, not of the world, not of myself, not of anything else... but a man of GOD... solely and wholly.

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not dissapoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
--Romans 5:1-5

And so the path is set before me. I cannot sway to one side or the other, I must persevere through tribulations, tempations, troubles, and trials... No compromise, no excuses, no backsliding, no complacency, no laziness; relying on God, the only true source of strength, I can move mountains, I can defeat this body filled with so many evil desires, I can "mount up with wings like eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint." Looking unto Jesus, the one who has gone before, fought the fight, overcome the world, persevered through the pain, and is now the One in whom we can depend on, the only reliable one, the only faithful One, in which there is no shadow of turning, no chance for being let-down, no cause for fear or anxiety. While we are faithless, He is faithful. Look unto Him!