We have heard it said that we need to ‘stand up and fight’. I would suggest that the most powerful way to do that is to ‘kneel down and pray’. The former might win the battle, but the latter will win the war.

It would be infinitely more prudent to be a single “David” standing with God, than a million “Goliath’s” standing without Him.

To deny the battle is unwise. To believe that I can fight it without God is insane. To actually do so is suicidal. No wonder so many of us walk around looking like death warmed over.

Pain is the fire that steels the soul to better fight life’s battles and more deeply appreciate its beauty because of the battles. But maybe one of the greatest battles is being willing to live the beauty of this reality.

There are those who left the confines of comfort to fight the battles from which they might not return, for to do anything less was to assume that they could do nothing more. And a true patriot will never succumb to the rot of such cowardice.

I don’t necessarily sit around inviting life to knock me down, but when it does I don’t wait around for an invitation to stand back up either.

There are those critical crossroads when we find ourselves standing facing certain surrender only being certain that we must refuse such a surrender.

Although we may face untold numbers that by their sheer mass appear to render us as little more than a speck in the face of them, a single person standing with God amidst any mass will always be an indomitable majority.

We would be wise not to play the victim, for that would be to miss the fact that defeat holds the raw ingredients from which the greatest victories are crafted.