Collapsing Only to Soar From the Embers

FIGHTING THE BATTLES TO SEE VICTORIES

Life is a precious gift. It is something to cherish, something to feel worthy of, something presented to us from the heavens that allow us to create special memories with the ones we love. Unfortunately, the sad truth is haunting, the time we have been given on this earth is never a guarantee, and each day, we face trials that can drown us and we find ourselves losing the precious time we have. Life can change for each of us in a matter of moments. Whether it be through sickness, death, life events, or challenges, we are always in a fighting battle. You see, when we give up, we allow ourselves to become defeated by the enemy, and in turn, we collapse and so does everything around us that is important. But it is how we chose to fight these battles that help us to rise up and see victories.

WHEN HOPE BECOMES LOST

Sometimes the fires within our souls become dim until they burn out creating dark ashes. The hurt and pain become so much and we come to find life is burning up our souls until our eyes become watery, our throats become numb, our breath begins to slow and we begin to smother in the smoke. We seek the answers to help us overcome these trials but how often do we give up before fighting in the good fight of faith? Many of us will throw in the towel before we can even see what the rewarded victory is through these adversities. It appears hope becomes lost. We lose, begin to stumble, lose our grip, start to retreat, and then find ourselves falling far from the gifts God has for us in this life.

The bible tells those who find our hearts longing for answers; "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

When we are unable to see the other side of those gifted plans, we become panicked, then before we know it we become caught in the cycle mentioned earlier. Stumbling, losing grip, retreating, fall. COLLAPSE. DEFEAT. So how do we rise?

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

Faith is not an easy task to have, it's believing in what we can not see. We are the generation of instant gratification, instant change, and instant growth. Unfortunately, life does not work this way because we are in spiritual warfare that we can not fathom. We must put our knowledge in the fact that by searching deep within our soul, we are finding our strength when we fall. By finding this strength in the defeat, it leads us to the courage to overcome every battle in the midst of our troubles and trials. That strength and courage lead us to have the faith we need to spread our wings and soar. We don't do this alone though, our maker is with us even when we feel like we are suffocating in the fire. Once again we are told in Joshua 1:9;

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

If we have the courage to continue on in our faith to beat these attacks the enemy tries to steal from our life and the things we love, we can find our strength through the journey, the gift of life. We then are able to gain the courage to fight the good fight of faith and pick up our swords and fight against the battles that try to tear us down.

"And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed." -Exodus 3:2

If we do not let the battles consume us, we are able to walk through the fires.

RISING FROM THE ASHES

Greek Mythology explains to us that the phoenix, becomes born again but before this happens, it burns and decomposes in the flames. In this precious gift of life, the next moment is never a guarantee, but through loss, through devastation, through the burning flames, we are able to find symbols of hope, renewal, rebirth, immortality, resurrection, solitude, and grace. We are rebirthed and renewed with the ability to soar above the embers below.

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Confuscious

The phoenix is associated with the sun. The sun brings light in the darkness and we know that the light shall always overcome the darkness in our life. So through collapsing defeat, we are able to rise with the strength and courage that lead us to the good fight of faith and overcome battles of smokey storms.

Lovingly, Lucca