He's Fighting for Us

Always has been, always will be

Since hearing it for the first time, Riley Clemmons’ “Fighting for Me” has remained one of my favorite Christian songs over the last few years.

The chorus goes like this:

You will never stop fighting for me

When I can't fight for myself

Every word is a promise You keep

'Cause You love me like nobody else

You stand up for me in the darkest night

When my faith is weak You’re still by my side

You will never stop fighting for me

It has always invoked a sense of calm in me; a comfort that I am at all times being protected by a God that loves me deeply.

My imagination likes to run wild with the visuals while I sing, picturing movie-like villains that I can tweak to represent both metaphorical and literal threats to my wellbeing. There are choreographed fight scenes, hand clasped running through buildings where glass is breaking and things are exploding, and a final, faithful jump off the side of a cliff, knowing I can trust the one telling me to go for it.

It has always felt like a story, one that could be told to a child afraid of the dark, or of monsters under their bed, and to an adult afraid of the unknown, or of the ways in which they could get hurt.

But it wasn’t until recently that I heard the song in a new light.

It was when I paid close attention to the pre-chorus:

When the going gets tough

And my strength's not enough

I see You showing up like never before

This battle for my heart

You took on from the start

You are the peace when my mind's at war

Suddenly, I thought OH—

What if…I’m the villain?

What if the person God needs to fight to get to me is...me?

My pride, my fear, my doubt, my greed, my bitterness, my jealousy, my naivety, my focus.

Like the punches and explosions I’d previously pictured, maybe these are the things that are exploding all around me, these are the windows crashing in, the villains jumping in to wreak havoc and steal me away.

So on top of the fight to keep me from believing the lies of the world and being hurt by the enemy, God is at constant war with the parts of me that try to cast him out—the parts that want to give into darkness, act on human impulses, and completely lose hope.

This battle for my heart

You took on from the start

He knows that it will be a long, hard fight from the very beginning, but he keeps fighting because He loves us like nobody else. And isn’t that amazing?!

There is no weighing of pros and cons, no sitting back, like, “well, I’ll see how she fairs for a bit before I step in.”

No.

He is always fighting, he has always been fighting, and he will always keep fighting.

So on my harder days, or perhaps just in challenging moments, I have started to stop and ask myself, “am I fighting God right now?”

When the answer is yes, I know it’s time to take a breath and watch Him fight back.