time to fight

My dear friend Erica dropped this on us today, from Isaiah 28:

5 In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,
    and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
6 and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
    and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

It’s a prophetic passage, dealing with a people who have turned from the Lord.  Isaiah is declaring a day when God turns the tables on the status quo, when the people who have been intent on self-reliant, self-indulgent, self-exalting living find themselves exposed as prideful, broken, and empty.

But not everyone will face the wrath of the Almighty.

There are those who stand with him, for him, by him.

And there is a time to fight.

My natural tendency is not to fight.  I’d like to say that I’m a lover, not a fighter.  But the truth is that I lean more to flight.  I have to remind myself that there are things worth fighting for.

When the battle at at the gate of the city, you must rouse yourself and fight.  There is a real enemy, and the battle is absolutely real, possibly more real than you and I can ever imagine.  When the enemy is at the gate of your house, your church, your ministry, your neighborhood, your _____________

FIGHT

God gives strength to those who will stand in the breach and turn the battle back.

I need some folks who will join me.  I’ve got some fighting to do.