Prize of War

Even after all the hardship, struggles, and toils you’ve suffered, at least you still have your life. There was nothing else to be gained. Your body hurts, your mind is scorched, your emotions frazzled, but you are breathing and still moving. This is the promise God gives to us– that we will escape hardship, struggles, toil, and the whole lot of craziness in the world with our lives. There is nothing more than that. This is the hope, that we will have enough breath in the tank to give glory to God another day. You will not have anything else to boast about, but you can recount the story of how you’re still alive.

And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go. (Jeremiah 45:5)

God does not promise you anything but the breath of life after hardship, turmoil, and pain; what Jeremiah calls “war.” There is no mansion, there is no great uncle Harry who leaves you an inheritance. There is no happy life with a happy wife and two and a half kids plus a dog. None of that is even mentioned in the Bible. All the struggling, all the pain, all the pain you’re going through, your reward at the end of all that is your life. You’re alive and God gives you that as His gift. I do not want to downplay the awesomeness of this gift, because to escape war with your life is truly a prize; however, it’s not what we expected to hear or read, that God would gift us our lives after a war. That pain you’ve been enduring, the suffering that you’ve had to deal with, it keeps piling on but you keep living on, you keep moving forward. I don’t want you to get your hopes up for something that will not happen, there is no prize other than your life that you should be seeking. The big payday you hope that will make up for everything you’ve endured may not come. What will come is your life and the story of how God redeemed your life through the war. God tells us that the prizes of war will never be more than the life He allows you to keep. When the “war” is over, you will have yourself, the person God created you to be and that is the greatest prize God can give you: salvation.