before i got married i found myself i was pretty young and i found myself in a toxic relationship
it had grown abusive at times and while i was in that relationship is when i got saved
and so i pursued and just trying to get out of it my perspective changed when i got saved and so i
knew this wasn't the life i wanted to keep living and so i wanted to pull away from it but if you've
ever found yourself in one of those situations you really need some core muscles you really need the
strength of the lord to help you process that and to step out of these different things and to make
forward motion and you have a manipulator you have things holding you back and there was often
times where i felt like somebody was pulling me that was stronger pulling me back than who
was pulling me forward and i just remember being in this season i remember having help around me
that was supporting me and just trying to really find god are you stronger than all that i feel
is holding me back all my sin all the past of my relationship the even this physical person
are you stronger and where is the strength of the lord and it was in that season that i really found
the strength of god it was in that season where i really began to see that god is a god of strength
and that he strengthens us and so but it came through a passage in second chronicles 20. and i
just want to read just a couple verses to you and it said do not be afraid or be discouraged for the
battle is the lord's and i just immediately knew in that moment this wasn't between me and the
enemy this wasn't between me and this other person this battle was the lord's and then it went on
down and said take your position and stand still and watch the lord's victory for he is with you
and immediately i felt like the lord said take your position as a daughter of the most high
kink and i will take care of this situation and going on down it said believe in the lord your
god for he you for you will be able to stand firm and i said okay god i'm going to believe your word
but i said but how in the world am i going to find victory and then there's this verse where
he says they sent out an army before the army they sent out people and they began to sing and
they began to worship and they began to sing this phrase give thanks to the lord his faithful love
endures forever and immediately i knew the weight of victory was that praise would precede it
and so i shifted everything that i was in every conversation i was in and i began to say great
is the lord give thanks to the lord your faithful love will endure forever your faithful love will
hold me in and i began to strengthen myself in the lord by giving praise and praise to me wasn't just
worship it wasn't just songs even though that was what i was doing i had worship music always
playing when i was in my car or in my house i was always playing i was trying to strengthen my core
muscle so that i could stand firm in the lord and i just but it wasn't just that it was actually the
way i chose to live it was the way i chose to talk it was who i chose to hang around i began
to change how i praise the lord with all that i do and say because i learned early on in my walk
with the lord that praise will precede the victory it wasn't about if god would win the battle it was
that he had already won so i was going to begin to praise him so that when i saw the victory with my
own eyes it wasn't from a place of oh wow you did it it was a place where i knew you were going to
do this i knew my god would come through i knew it because long before i found the victory in my
own life i began to praise him for the victory and i have to be honest with you because when
you're in one of those situations your praise is sometimes not all that grand sometimes my
praise was god thanks for waking me up today yeah thanks that i whatever and it was very
minuscule it was very shallow but over time those shallow praises became deeper because victory had
become one step closer it reminded me of david when he fought goliath he didn't win the battle
that day because he had saul's armor he didn't win the battle that day he actually
won the battle long before that as he learned to stand firm in the way that god created him
so that when the battle arrived he was just standing firm so that god could do what only
he could do in that situation we like to say that david uh didn't win his battle because he fought
well it was because he believed well he believed in a mighty god that would serve on his behalf
and that that is such a great thing you said so many good things you are just a preacher elaine
and i love you so much you're such a great example of what god took you from because so many people
are in that same position today i believe they feel stuck they feel trapped and and seeing god
as their victory as my redeemer my um my ticket out of here to a good a better place that's what
he is he is our banner of strength and a lot of times we find ourselves in these places for
god to show his glory through our lives for god to for us to actually lean into him and believe
that he is our victor believe that he it says he is our strong tower he is our way of escape
and i think um that god can show up so powerfully i mean look at where you are today you have just
been such a beautiful example of believing what you're preaching you're you know we sit on here
we tell these stories and it's just not knowledge it's it's experience we've experienced this kind
of stuff so we can say it passionately of what i have been through that god has been faithful
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