The Struggle Is Real

adrianhines Jun 23, 2014 · 14 min read

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

I’m not sure if you are going to resonate with what I am writing here…

Or if you are going to shrug it off categorizing me as a fanatical Jesus freak that’s lost all his marbles…

Heck you may be able to feel what I am saying because the struggle has been real for you as well…

Whatever your frame of thought, I KNOW this one post is the answer to someone’s question. By the end of reading this, if The Lord has spoken through me to you, please leave a comment below, like, and share.

#TheStruggleIsReal

Ever since the dawn of time and creation on the planet we call Earth, there’s been an immense battle. One between good and evil.

Between God’s army and the devil’s army. Between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.

Some think it’s been a battle over earth.

I disagree. Earth IS one of the battle places, but it’s not what the battle is about.

The battle is real in the heavenlies as well as our minds too, not just Earth.

The LORD God gave man our collective life purpose, our kingdom mandate. In Genesis 1:26 (which is the 1st words Elohim spoke about man), He said,

“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

What we see here first that The LORD God gave man was NOT power, i.e. dominion, but He gave us His identity, His image.

His image represents His nature, mind, His spiritual and moral character. It has nothing to do with what He physically looks like. God doesn’t have a physical body like us, He is a Spirit.

The next thing God gave us after giving us His image is dominion. That word dominion in the Hebrew means: sovereign rule, royal power, kingdom, to rule and dominate.

Now notice God never said for us to dominate one another but over the creatures and earth that He created. The only Being that is supposed to rule over us is The LORD God because He is the Owner and Creator of us all.

Back to Genesis 1:26. So we see that God intended for us to have dominion over the Earth. He also intended for us to rule and dominate in our area of gifting. God essentially was establishing His Kingdom here in the earth. You can not have royal power or sovereign rule if you’re not talking about a kingdom.

There is no royal power in a democracy.

God was setting man up to rule over the earth under the Lordship of Him. He was laying the foundation of His rulership in the visible earth through the invisble heavens ruling through the invisble spirit in man.

But there was an enemy that didn’t like what was going on. There was an enemy that hated (and still does) God so much that he would do any and everything to destroy what God created as very good and to get back at him.

Before this enemy appeared to the created ambassadors of heaven, i.e. Adam and Eve, The LORD God gave Adam instructions on not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The enemy decided to trick the heavenly ambassadors in disobeying their King and committing treason. We are all familiar with what happened. Adam committed treason. Sin entered the world.

Ever since then there have been two opposing forces, which by the way are spiritual, that have been fighting desperately for the ALLEGIANCE of man.

The Kingdom of God demands our allegiance based off the creative right of the LORD God but yet He won’t force us to get in right alignment with His way of doing things although it leads to eternal life.

The kingdom of darkness lies, cheats, steals, and uses every form of deception to get us to follow their way of doing things. In the end this leads to death.

Now we have these 2 spiritual powerhouses that are operating in the spirit realm which many of us can’t see into and they both are vying for allegiance. They both want to impose their way of doing things, their culture, will, and intent on us…

The Kingdom of God for good and the kingdom of darkness for bad.

Even the tent maker Paul writes in Galatians 5:17 that,

“The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”

Since we live in a fallen world, we are so used to living by our flesh instead of by the spirit man that is inside all of us. We allow our senses and flesh to rule us. Where time and time again The LORD God is reminding us to trust in Him with our whole heart, leaning not unto our own understand but in all our ways acknowledging Him and He’ll direct our path.

Yet it’s difficult. Even as a born again believer in Jesus Christ. Often times it’s hard to shed the world’s way of doing things and instead follow the Lord.

The Apostle Paul penned it so brilliantly in Romans 12:2,

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” In other words, we are IN the world but not OF the world. We as born again believer are not supposed to act like the world does, which according to God, is operating under the influence of the kingdom of darkness.

We are supposed to operate under the rulership of the Kingdom of God. We are supposed to represent His will, intent, nature and desire for us His citizens.

Yet…

That can be so hard at times. Or rather, the lines can be blurred easily. Let me explain.

When it comes to setting goals, hitting income levels, etc in the network marketing or business world, people of the world have their own way of doing it. Many princples are taken from the Bible itself. While others have a little bit of biblical truth wrapped in it but ultimately places man in their own driver seat for destiny.

Better yet, let me pull back the curtains on my business life so you can understand more.

As a kingdom ambassador, I’ve struggled for so long being in the world doing business and trying my best not to do business the world’s way. Not to fall victim to greed, the love of money, doing anything just to get ahead, not caring about others outcomes, etc.

I also dealt with #thestruggle of making sure I operate in love, how to set goals and run business the way that brings honor to God. The #strugglewasreal even when it came down to no longer saying ‘my business’ but the business that I manage for the Kingdom of God.

Here’s why I say that. The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell there in. In other word’s The LORD (Owner) owns everything. That’s how kingdoms operate. The King owns it all, that is why he is called Lord.

So essentially, we don’t own anything. It actually is beneficial for us to relenquish control to God as Owner/Lord because when we do that, we are saying He foots the bill on everything. It’s His ultimate responsibility to make things happen.

Our role is to simply run the business effectively. To bring the LORD a return on His investment like in the parable of the talents.

Some of those principles I got down pat or under control for the most part. But where the struggle has been real for me, like a nagging injury to an athelete that keeps you sideline, is in the area of achieving set goals.

Before I go into this and wrap up my thoughts, let me say one thing. I learn A LOT of things from people of different faith. I am not saying they are bad and evil. Truth be told there are many that love better than Christians. They have their own way of doing things, which works. There are many things that I take from people that do not share the same faith as me and I apply to what I am doing. And guess what, I get results.

The blurred line for us as kingdom ambassadors is this though: are we relying more on our efforts, knowledge, worldly wisdom, and skills than on faith?

Are we planning ahead and thinking that everything is going to happen the way we want and command?

Or are we including God in the planning process, planning around His purpose for our lives, and saying God you have full control of the outcome?

Are we steady pushing to reach certain goals, making promises and declarations in the name of Jesus, and falling short most of the time because in reality we are operating by our own doings?

Or are we taking authority in our area of gifting, handling business, setting goals still but yet letting the Lord know that His will be done?

You see the struggle for me has been in setting goals like the world teaches and probably not hitting them 90% of the time. No lie. Especially when it came to hitting a certain income level within a certain time frame.

This past Friday I broke down and told God something is wrong. What am I missing? Why do I keep following what other successful leaders are teaching and its not coming to pass for me? There’s always a constant level of frustration and irritation although I hide it very well.

I wanted answers. I didn’t understand why a person like me, who wants to do things His way, a person that gives Him honor in all that I do, a person that is unshamed to represent the Kingdom of God…

Why wasn’t I getting results like other people? Why was it taking so long for me to hit a certain income level? Why couldn’t I come through on a promise that I gave someone that is close to me?

The next day morning I got a text message from a very good friend of mine. It was from the book of James, the 4th chapter, verses 13-16.

13 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.

I sent a reply back saying interesting, I’m going to read it. Then a few minutes later I replied back with thank you.

It was in the following hours and throughout the rest of the weekend that God began to show me that although my heart and intentions are pure (now) in the goals that I want to accomplish, I am still on His timetable. Whenever I try to force something to happen or come to pass, or when I put a date on when I WANT something to happen, then I am boasting about my own plans.

You see the struggle that was constantly going on inside of me was the business mind saying there is nothing wrong with setting time bound goals, heck we are supposed to do that. And that is true. However, as a kingdom ambassador, we are to have a small yet simple change in our thinking which makes a huge difference in the eyes of the LORD.

We are supposed to plan. The bible clearly teaches that. Look at the following scriptures below:

Luke 14:28-33 ESV For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

Proverbs 16:3 ESV Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 21:5 ESV The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Proverbs 24:27 ESV Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

Heck you can even look at the story of Joseph after he rose to power in Egypt. He helped orchestrate through the revelation of the Spirit, how to outlast the 7 years of famine that was sure to come.

Yet I think the scripture that sums everything up for us when it comes to planning, one that I always had challenges understanding and accepting was Proverbs 19:21

You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.

That’s a hard pill to swallow especially if you’ve been pushing for so hard and long like I have to reach certain goals so you can “do things for the Kingdom”.

But then I had to put things in perspective and make a small adjustment in the attitude of my heart:

God is still Sovereign and in control. I’m still employed by Him
Although I haven’t hit the income I wanted yet, I started being grateful for the income I am currently making. I started thanking God that I’m no longer in a job but at home earning a full time income.
I’m making sure with all my planning now that lean not unto my own understanding and letting God know that I want His will to prevail at His timing.
I’m letting patience have its perfect work so that I can be mature and complete not lacking anything.
No longer compare myself to other people and their results.
I do my best to walk in faith every moment of the day because the just shall LIVE by faith. It’s a lifestyle for me not a random decision that I make when it comes to doing ‘big’ things.

With those simple adjustments, I have more peace now. I no longer feel frustrated. I’m walking in the spirit and by the Kingdom of God principles. God is ruling and reigning in my life. He has my total allegiance which is what this battle has always been over…

Remember what I said at the beginning ;).

S let me share this one last thing then I have to go.

This morning I was reading Hebrews 5 and 6. A few verses that really hit home were 10-12:

10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

What the LORD was telling me and what I want to encourage you with is this:

Be diligent in what God has called you to do. Don’t become sluggish like I did because the promise didn’t come to pass just yet. Keep working towards it will diligence and full assurance of hope imitating those who through FAITH and PATIENCE inherited the promises.

When you have that mindset and no longer a time table on WHEN things better happen, you’ll be good.

Joseph didn’t know when his dream was going to come to pass and it took 17 years.

Moses was 80 years old when he got his instructions for his life purpose.

Caleb and Joshua had to wait an extra 40 years to inherit the promise land after God told Israel He was giving it to them.

David was anointed King over Israel at a young age but had to wait over 20 years before he would sit on the throne.

Even Jesus Himself, who knew His life’s mission at a young age, who was teaching in the temple at the age of 12, waited until the age of 30 AFTER His forerunner (John the Baptist) was thrown into prison to start His minsitry.

Patience is not my favorite word or virtue, however it is necessary in order to obtain the promises God has for us. Now that I fully get this lol, I’m not setting anymore time bound goals.

I’m not telling God when I want my goals to be accomplished by. I’m not going to presumptually and arrogantly think that tomorrow is promised to me.

I’m going to plan around His purpose for my life, walk in faith daily, still do the work, and just trust God for the outcome in His timing.

My allegiance is fully to His way of doing things. I am in the world but no longer operating by how the world does business.

How bout you?

Let the picture below encourage you like it did me this weekend.

– Adrian Hines

P.S. #thestruggleisnolongerreal