“Fight all your battles on your knees and you win every time!”

Posted on November 5, 2013

These past few weeks I needed to focus on these few words, “I can’t but You can”. A dear friend of mine shared with me another few words of positive encouragement, “I am nothing without Jesus, but I can do all things through Christ”. Powerful, encouraging and a very necessary reminder when trials come our way.

I think very often we can be so aware of the certain stages of culture shock and even feel comfortable explaining and describing them, but we often fail to recognize when we are actually experiencing it for ourselves or in the “thick of it”.

Giving up should not be an option when it comes to serving The Lord. Rather than turning away, backing off, or retreating, we need to rest in His strength and His power for energy, joy, peace and comfort. 

Over the last 2 weeks I recognized the importance of rest. My excitement, anticipation and joy of being here made me dive “head first” into anything and everything. I was a “go go go” all the time, but I finally hit a brick wall and my body needed to rest. The good Lord is teaching me that we all need rest, and we all need to recognize when to say we are tired. I am learning His strength is made perfect in our weakness. He is also teaching me the importance of prayer! Fighting all of our battles on our knees! “that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1)

Kolkata is a city that is fast-paced, full of life, vibrant, and chaotic at times. There is always something to do and see. Thankfully I have my “posse” of friends here to show me around, tell me what’s good to eat and not so good, and to keep smiling. The joy of The Lord is my strength. He is our strength. It doesn’t come from ourselves and our own power or might. If that were true, then we’d always fail miserably. We are human, we need rest, we need friends, we need laughter, we need to relax! When we find rest and reenergize in His presence, we are more well equipped to serve Him and others. 

“We draw near to God through prayer and by spending time in His Word. We draw near to God when we set aside time solely to listen to God and to wait upon Him for direction and guidance. We draw near to God when we periodically shut ourselves away, closing off all other influences that might distract us from knowing Him better. The better we know Him, the more we see His awesome power, experience His vast love, learn from His wisdom, and grow in our faith”

-Charles Stanley

Thinking of all of my friends and family back home and missing all of you! Love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers. I am feeling much better, feeling covered in prayer. 

Love,

Maneesha