The Hardest Won Battles

The hardest won battles are not won on a stage, behind a pulpit, in the boardroom, or on the field. They are won in the bedroom at 11:30 p.m. and in the shower at 6 a.m., for these are the times and places when we are most unguarded, vulnerable and completely alone with God.

“…commune with your own heart upon your bed…” Psalm 4:4

It is at these times, in our most private and solitary corners of the universe, that we pour our hearts out to Him in a raw realness that only He sees and understands. It is here that we wrestle with ourselves and with God. It is here that we shed our bitterest tears and ask Him the most private, intimate questions. It is here that we lay foundations for success, or failure, because just like success begins or ends in the heart and mind, so does failure.

By the time you see someone succeeding publicly it is because they have cried themselves to sleep many nights wrestling with God pleading for wisdom, courage, direction, strength and faith. And by day, putting in the elbow grease success requires. By the time you see them fail, it is because because little by little they started giving up on their dream, on God, or giving in to complacency, selfishness, negativity, and lies.

Either way, success and failure begin in the deepest parts of our heart and mind and in the most solitary corners of our private world.

So next time you shake someone's hand and congratulate them on their success, remember that it didn't happen overnight but rather over a period of many prayerful and tearful nights, which in the morning they wipe away before facing the world with a smile. 

“Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5