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I happened across a TV show yesterday that was a sport’s game called American Ninja Warrior. I had never seen it before, but it looked interesting and so I continued to watch the sports program. And as I watched it, the Presence of God became very near and He started encouraging me through this program. The show depicts athletes competing to finish a number of challenging obstacles that are impossible for a normal person. And each individual must use every bit of strength and endurance and perseverance with grit and determination to get through each course, and each one goes through the course individually one after another, while at the sidelines there is a whole crowd cheering them on and encouraging them to finish. What really touched me as well was that the other competitors were also on the sidelines cheering them on, some who had completed the course and some who had yet to start the course, but all were there to encourage and spur the athlete on to complete the course. The obstacles challenging these athletes were so difficult that it would take almost a “superhuman” to be able to complete them, and I was amazed at the performance of these athletes as they met the challenges. You could see the sheer determination in them and the focus for each successive goal, and it was taking such endurance of their stamina to be able to complete each challenge and try to regain a bit of breath and strength for their next obstacle. These were true “warriors” in these courses. And God started showing me that this was a parallel to the spiritual realm. In the spirit realm, there are challenges and obstacles in our lives that are near impossible to the normal human, but what is impossible to man is not impossible to God, and we have God living on the inside of us, making us almost “superhuman” in a sense. And when we are going through these obstacles, sometimes we feel we are going through them alone; yet God reminded me of the scripture that we have a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us as we run our race of endurance (Heb 12:1) and I saw the comparison of all the crowd on TV that surrounded the individual as he or she went through each course and trial. And at one point, when a competitor actually finished the entire course and reached the goal, the entire crowd erupted into a cheer and everyone exulted in his win and everyone was excitedly clapping; and for a brief moment I saw in the spirit as if God Himself was excitedly clapping and was thrilled for the outcome, and it startled me. Because sometimes we tend to think God is on His throne just “observing” and watching us in a calm detached way as we go about events, or maybe we view Him watching us in a mildly pleased way, but scripture says God “rejoices over us”.
The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zeph. 3:17)
The verb “rejoice” is a very active verb, meaning to show great joy or delight. And that was what I saw in the very brief vision as I saw what looked like God clapping His hands in delight over the athlete as he completed his course. (I wonder if the athlete was one of God’s own children.) But God was encouraging me as I watched this program and reminded me that even though we may feel alone at times when we are going through our trials or struggles that seem nigh impossible, that God is with us and He is for us and there is a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, cheering us on to the finish. And there are more for us than against us (2 Kings 6:16). And these athletes were warriors, but with God in us, He has made us warriors and more than conquerors. The word “CHAMPIONS” came in my head later as I was thinking on the show. And I realized that we may not all look on the outside like these athletes look, but what God sees on the inside of us are the fierce warriors and champions He has called into being by the life of His Son on the inside and the strength of His Spirit in us. And we are running at times an extremely difficult course, trying to get through obstacles set in front of us, but we are warriors and champions with Christ and we just need to persevere to the end, but there IS a great crowd that is unseen by us who are clapping their hands and rejoicing over us as we complete each trial and event in our lives. They are spurring us on to complete our race and get to the final goal, and God is with us as well and He is rejoicing over us as we complete our tasks. Somehow this program just really encouraged me in my own trials and reminded me that even as they were “warriors” in their trials and courses, so are we true warriors as we enter our courses and trials, and we need to carry through with the same grit and determination to complete the course to the very end!</p>A little word I felt or heard in the spirit today.
A day of battle, a day of champions, decreeing the battle/ the victory is the Lord’s! Assured the victory, the victor’s crown, going in at full strength, with the strength of the Lord. It is not the challenge that assures you the victor, but the One at your side going with you, who has gone before you, who assures you His victory. It is not whether you have strength in yourself but with His strength, you can compete and win. He has already gained the victory. In His Presence, you are armed with strength to wage war and gain confidence that the battle has been won on your behalf, to go in with fortitude and strength…
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