(part 6 of “how to fight your battles”)
When thinking of a way to close out this “How To Fight Your Battles” series, I could not think of a better song. In this post, we will be looking at the song “See A Victory” by Elevation Worship. This song came out in 2019 and served as a reminder to me about the victory I had seen in an area of my life. I want to share that story with you.
Almost two years before this song came out, I found myself in a situation that I didn’t expect. As it normally is with battles, they tend to come out of nowhere. At the end of 2017, I found myself at the end of a marriage. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to think. I surely didn’t see a victory. But sometimes you don’t always see the victory right away. All I saw was the battles. The battle of loneliness. The battle of disappointment. The battle of heartbreak. The battle of change. The battle of moving on. The battle of wondering what was next. There were many battles.
As time went on, with the help of many people and music, I was able to move forward and put that all in the past. In the summer of 2019, I found myself engaged to a wonderful woman. Then a month later, I heard this song for the first time. These words caught my attention:
“The weapon may be formed
But it won't prosper
When the darkness falls, it won't prevail
'Cause the God I serve knows only how to triumph
My God will never fail
Oh, my God will never fail
There's power in the mighty name of Jesus
Every war he wages, He will win
Oh, I'm not backing down from any giant
'Cause, I know how this story ends
Yes, I know how this story ends
I'm gonna see a victory
I'm gonna see a victory
For the battle belongs to you Lord
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And you turn it for good
You turn it for good” [1]
The words above are why I decided to end this series with this song. Every battle belongs to the Lord. The Lord fights our battles for us. The Lord has power and authority. The Lord is victorious. The Lord doesn’t know how to fail. The Lord always has a plan. But sometimes we don’t see the victory right away. Let’s look at one story from the Bible of someone that didn’t see a victory right away either. Let’s look at the story of Joseph.
Joseph is one of 12 kids. Joseph also has these dreams that make his brother dislike him. Joseph’s brothers also disliked him because he Jacob’s favorite. Jacob would get him gifts and treat him differently. One of the gifts that Jacob gave Joseph was a beautiful robe*. So his brothers decided to take him and kill him off because they hated him some much. [2]
One day Jacob sent Joseph to go and check on his brothers and see how everything was going. The brothers knew it was him coming because of the robe he was wearing. As he was approaching they made their plans to kill him. But Reuben spoke up and suggested that they didn’t kill him and just put him in a hole so it could look like an accident. So that is what they did. They took his robe and threw him in the hole. Then it was decided to sell him instead of leaving him there to die. They sold him to passing traders that were going to Egypt. When Joseph was sold away, they smeared blood on his robe and ran home. The brothers told Jacob that they had found this robe and led him to believe that Joseph was eaten by a wild animal. [2]
Joseph finds himself in the house of Potiphar. Potiphar saw that Joseph was good and was pleased with him, so Potiphar made him his personal assistant. But Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph of trying to fool around with her and Potiphar had Joseph arrested and thrown in jail. [2]
Once again, the Lord was with Joseph and he succeeded even in prison. He started to interpret dreams for the prisoners. Two of the people he interprets dreams for are the cupbearer and the baker. Joseph asks them to remember him when they get out of prison. [2] But here is what the Bible says:
“Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.” - Genesis 40:23 NLT
I bet during this time Joseph didn’t feel very victorious. I bet he didn’t even feel that God cared. I bet he even thought that God had forgotten him. It is in these moments where we can feel the same way. While we are waiting for a victory, we can get bummed out in the waiting. We can start to feel that God isn’t there. But Genesis 41 begins like this:
“When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream...” Genesis 41:1 NIV
God had a plan for Joseph all along. When Pharaoh had the dream, he wanted someone to interpret it. The cupbearer then remembered Joseph. Joseph came before Pharaoh was able to tell him what the dream meant. Pharaoh was so thankful and impressed he made Joseph second in command and the only one with more power than Joseph was Pharaoh himself. This also allowed Egypt to prepare for the coming famine and help other nations - including Israel. [2]
Joseph had to wait two years to see his victory. All of the stuff that he went through all led him to where God wanted him to go. God had a plan for Joseph and all of the pieces of Joseph’s story that didn’t make any sense at the time, all became crystal clear and he was able to see that God was there all along.
I had to wait two years to realize the victory that God had for me. The pieces didn’t make sense to me, but when I look back at them all I can see what God was doing all along.
When I am going through a battle, I remember these words from the song and they remind me of how God has been victorious in the past and will be again and again. “I’m gonna see a victory, for the battle belongs to the Lord.” [1]
——————
*also referred to as a coat of many colors.
[1] Artist: Elevation Worship
Song: See A Victory
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Jason Ingram / Christopher Joel Brown / Steven Furtick / Ben Fielding
See A Victory lyrics © So Essential Tunes, Be Essential Songs, Shout! Music Publishing Australia
[2] Full story can be found in Genesis 37-50, NLT.
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