25+ years ago my Pastor, Tim, preached a sermon about contending for one’s ministry, one’s calling. In all the years since, this message has stayed with me. Though I can’t tell you precisely what he said, I can tell you the sense of how it profoundly impacted me. Now couple that with a short story by Henry James that talks about a chap who spent his whole life waiting for God to act in his life. Sadly, he never saw what the Lord had prepared for him. To me, this is where ‘contend’ fits in. If we don’t actively involve ourselves, first, in finding what the Lord has prepared then we will never enjoy the fruitfulness or fullness that walking in our call provides.
I decided to discover how Webster defined contend: “…to struggle in opposition, to strive”. Some of the synonyms are: withstand, grapple, assert, maintain. I could go on but the point is made – contend is not a passive and inactive word. The picture I always see in my mind is of a warrior, one who has put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and is ready for any signs leading to engaging the ‘enemy’. To paint the picture a bit clearer… the battle is not with others, or God; the battle is with those distractions and ‘forces’ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) and yes, sometimes that is ourselves when our eyes are only on us.
We are told in the New Testament that we are the called, that we are His workmanship, etc. but that doesn’t mean that we will have everything handed to us on a silver platter or that we will never have to struggle. A simple consideration of life should disabuse us of this. Life is all it’s cracked up to be but this doesn’t mean that we simply sit back and everything will be easy and handed to us – however it does mean that we have the Lord on our side to work with us so that we can be fruitful and live an abundant life.
At times contending is arduous work. Sometimes we may face rejection or set backs, but we will also enjoy seeing the Lord’s hand work. I know this may sound strange but ‘contending’ is really a privilege because it places who we are and what we do firmly in God’s hand. Presumptuous? No, I don’t think so. As long as we are doing all we know in order to be the best us each day, as long as we stand on the word of the Lord then we are doing our part in contending. No, that isn’t simple or easy… but it is worth it. Granted… it does depend on what is important to us. For me, I’m not the staid, impassionate type and I sometimes do tend to venture where even angels stop but the mindset of the eternal and essential as the motivation in life spurs me on. Contending is a lifestyle. You?
