I Won't Back Down

Read: Haggai 1
“8 ’Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,’ says the Lord.” Haggai 1:8

Examine:
Each person or group called to a task by God will inevitably face opposition and hardship. In the moments when the task feels too great, the opposition seems too strong, and the resources seem too few God beckons a warriors cry, “Step up, strap it on, and get after it.”

Apply:
This weekend has been a little hard. Over the past week, I have been quantifying the need and outlining projects. As I have done this, the reality of just how great a task has been given to us has become more tangible than I have ever known. In typical fashion, I also got a call from a group that I had held out hope would support us in this task, saying they would not do anymore than what had already been done. It felt like an arrow pierced the plates of my armor and struck deep into my flesh. As I fell back on my hands and grunted in pain, I felt my resolve being tested deeper still as another challenge was immediately pressed against my already pierced defenses.

In the quiet moment as my soul felt like it literally lay sprawled out on the ground, I heard the whisper of my Father bring me this verse. His quiet and calm voice gently asked me what did I want to do? Lie there and quit? Go back home defeated? Leave this life and return to my old one? Or, did I have it in me to get back up and believe in Him to accomplish what He said?

Pray:
As crazy as it feels to quote a rock song to You, that is what is on my heart this morning. In the words of the great theologian Tom Petty:

I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
in a world that keeps on pushin me around
but I'll stand my ground
...and I won't back down

I can say this today not because of my strength or resolve. I can say this only because I have too much clarity that You have called me to be here and given me the vision that I have. I will not let the decisions of any group of men take my eyes off of the task You have handed me to complete. One door closed this week and with it a chapter of my life and a channel of hope finally shut.

But, my faith was not in that door. My faith is in You. My confidence is in You. My hope is in You. Only You can deliver. Only You can supply. So, with my back against the wall, my profession to You today is that I will not back down. Help me take this mountain and do so only for Your glory. I give to You today my heart and my service. Lead me through this dark valley and help me dine at Your table in the presence of Your enemies. Give me the spark of hope I need to encourage those around me and empower me to take this mountain; by Your grace and only for Your glory.