We all have battles in our lives. That is part of living in a world where the original man and women rebelled against God (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Don't Know What You've Got ('Til It's Gone) (Cinderella)). Since that time, we have all been in a struggle to overcome not only the enemy's deceptions and traps, but also the deceptions and traps of our own makings. In essence, as we look at ourselves and the life we are living, whether we like it or not...we see The Warrior...
The band Scandal featuring Patty Smyth could really be summed up in the phrase, "one-album" wonder. They only had one full-length album, 1984's Billboard's Hot 200 #17 hit Warrior, which spawned the title track single as the band's only foray into the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100. Scandal had 5 singles that broke into the Hot 100, 2 from their debut EP Scandal (1982) and 2 from Warrior, but none of those songs surpassed #41 on the charts.
Patty Smyth (lead vocals) and Keith Mack (guitars) are the only original members to be with the 4 piece band since its inception. They continue to tour on the strength of today's featured song and the hints of a new album on the horizon. Interestingly enough, though not credited on an album, Jon Bon Jovi (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Livin' on a Prayer" (Bon Jovi)) played in the band in 1983 before seeing his own icon status take off.
"The Warrior" is a song about the pursuit of a relationship. Yup, that's right. It's one of THOSE songs... But in reality, the only chart-topping hit by Scandal reveals a deeper truth. Regardless of the kind of relationship, platonic, romantic, or spiritual, good bonds with others can sometimes have their challenges. We may find ourselves being warriors as we fight for and with those in which we have a rapport. Some of those battles can be eerily similar to real military conflict, like the ones we read about in, oh I don't know, say the Book of Joshua in the Bible?
Joshua was one of the only people who left captivity in Egypt to get to enter the Promised Land. Not even Moses, because of disobedience (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Water" (The Who)) was allowed to complete the journey and enter into the land God had promised Abraham.
God imbued Joshua with a warrior's spirit which he was about to need. You see even the promised things from God are not always easy for us to obtain. The Promised Land was inhabited by folks who had opportunity after opportunity to turn to God, yet refused to do so. Their sin and separation from God were so severe that God no longer could allow them to exist. God chose to use the new nation of Israel to mete out His justice on these folks. This is where Joshua comes in.
Joshua welcomes the task as God's agent to fulfill the promise that God had given and that Joshua had physically visualized some 40 years earlier. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Spies Like Us" (Paul McCartney)) Joshua becomes the warrior leader in a myriad of battles (spiritual and physical) that the Israelites were about to face. The book of Joshua is about the Israelites conquest (?) of the Promised Land.
You might find this 9-minute video from our friends at The Bible Project helpful as we explore Joshua's life.
So you see friend, as the children of Israel were being obedient as God's implements of justice to the land of the Caananites, they had battles. They became warriors as they fulfilled the prophecy given to Abraham. But we also see that the Israelites were warriors on another front. This is a struggle that we contend with as well. Will we find in our reflection a valiant warrior in our efforts to be obedient to God, or will we succumb to the enemy of ourselves and our selfishness? Will we declare victoriously "I am the warrior" or will we declare as we go down in defeat, "I want it all" ((1989 Queen) don't worry that Note is coming...) and "I want it MY way!" ("Have it Your Way" (Burger King Commercial 1974), "Have it Your Way" (Soul Version) Burger King Commercial 1974 ...sorry folks, this life ain't Burger King!)
So what do you do friend? Do you determine that you are going to be the warrior in the battles you face, or will you heed the words of a teenage, slingshot-wielding, warrior as he faced a giant? "The Battle is the Lord's and He will hand you over to us!" I Samuel 17:4-54 NASB/AMP/KJV
You see friend, there's no need for us to be shooting at the walls of heartache or any other manifestation of turmoil the enemy can devise because, as we celebrated this past Sunday if we have chosen His victory, our Warrior has already defeated every conflict imaginable and says with a resounding shout...VICTORY IS MINE!!!
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving you,
randy
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