“Vision from Battle”

For some reason television shows seem to help me with analogies that shed light on real life situations. Maybe it is a simple way for God to show me something because I can relate to it or understand it better or maybe I just watch strange shows but either way it brings me to a place of theological thinking at times. My most recent thought process was about the spiritual battles we face in life as believers and the issue of the necessities for these battles. One necessity of battle is the fact that we come out on the other side of the battle seeing differently, we have gained vision that we did not have before.

One of my favorite shows, "Alias", has an episode where Sydney (the main character) has to go to a fancy resort to find a resident there that is known to aid in the changing of identities for fugitives. Sydney goes to the island and finds the guy in question, figures out where his room is and goes there to get the new identity of the fugitive she is ultimately hunting. While Sydney is in the room a bodyguard walks in and finds her looking around. Of course a battle occurs, Sydney has to try and get through this battle so that she can continue on her mission. The battle Sydney is now in with the bodyguard seems like a huge inconvenience when the fighting causes her to crash through the wall. The bodyguard is now down for the count and what Sydney sees through the now, open wall is a surgery room where a new identity could be created and conveniently on a computer screen is the new look and identity of the person she was looking for, thus the answer to her search. Interestingly, if Sydney did not fight the battle with the bodyguard she never would have broken through the wall and would have never found what she needed to see.

Nobody likes to be in a battle! Battles are hugely inconvenient and always feel like they are in the way of what we are trying to do. However, the necessity is undeniable and the necessity of the vision we get from battle is huge! Sometimes there is no other way to see what we need to see without fighting a battle. We knock things over in battle, break through walls, and we uncover things that would otherwise remain hidden. Look back at battles that you have faced and think about what you see now that you never saw before that battle? Maybe you see friends that you did not know you had, or maybe you see strength in yourself that you did not know existed, or maybe you see a God who is faithful when you did not know that before… There is new vision obtained on the other side of those inconvenient but very necessary battles in our lives. Continue to fight the good fight and know that new vision comes from the battle!