You might have asked yourself over and over again, “Why me Lord? Why do I keep going through all these struggles in my life. In my school, in my home, at work, with my friends, with my family, with my relatives and now even at church?” You throw your hands in the air and sigh to yourself, “I should just give up.” Because, your struggles are real and sometimes they just become unbearable. Your struggles might come in bulk and often you might feel like you just can’t keep going. When you overcome one struggle another one seems to be right there waiting for you. You cry and cry, but that doesn’t seem to help. It’s just for a moment.
My beautiful Tewahedo Orthodox sister, we all have been there and struggles will always be part of life. You must always remember, the greatest defense to any war is knowing who your enemy is. The greatest defense to winning a game is knowing who your opponent is. The greatest tackle is knowing who the attacks are coming from. For you, my beautiful Tewahedo Orthodox sister, your enemy is not your parent, friend, relative, or that girl at work who constantly finds ways to drive you crazy. Or that one teacher at school who tries to find fault in every article or essay you write. It’s not that one family member that constantly finds ways to annoy you. Your greatest enemy is Satan himself. He does not like that you are a mezemran girl. In fact he hates it! It drives him crazy! He hates seeing that you whole heartily love and praise God with all your heart. He hates seeing you sing praises to our blessed mother Saint Mary. He hates that you want to do good. He absolutely hates it and he will do everything within his power to stop you. He will try everything he can to lure you into worldly things and away from God. He will tempt you with handsome boys and materialistic things. By any means necessary, he will use everyone around you to accomplish his goal. He will use that girl sitting next to you in class, he will use that girl you work with, he will even use that mezemran girl you stand next to in church.
He is your true enemy and he will use everyone around you. You must always be prepared to not allow your anger to get the best of you. Always, guard your mouth and your emotions, don’t ever allow hate to consume your heart. Don’t allow your enemy to win, by falling into the traps he has set before you. Don’t allow him to cosign your life, because in the end he can’t lead you to heaven. His forever home is hell and he wants you to join him. He will stop at no cost to take you down with him. Learn to ask yourself… am I living a godly life? Are the clothes I’m wearing pleasing to God? Is what I’m posting on social media glorifying God. Is what I’m saying and the words that come out of my mouth pleasing to God? Are my actions exemplifying Christ or the world? Sometimes it’s the simple things he will use to get you to dishonor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You must know his tack tics. Knowing he is your enemy will help you to combat 99.9% of the problems that come your way in your life. Don’t allow him to win!
Every struggle you overcome here on earth will be your reward up in heaven. We are not meant to live by the standards of this world. This life we are living is temporary and in the end our prize is an eternal life with Christ, stay focused on that. Look at an athlete who runs. She trains hard, she might fall and get hurt, she might even break a bone or two. But that dedicated athlete doesn’t allow anything to keep her away from finishing the race or winning the prize that waits for her at the end. She heals and gets right back up again and will complete the final race, while focusing on the prize. My beautiful Tewahedo Orthodox sister, the only difference is when athletes run they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we run for an imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:24-25) . An imperishable crown is what we are racing for. A prize which every, mezemran girl should have her eyes set on.
Always remember, if Satan tried to tempt Christ, he surely will do it to you. Next time, he comes knocking at your door. Be on guard! Read your bible daily, know the word of God. Talk to your spiritual father often and do your confessions religiously. Continue to pray daily and often, asking God to help you and the Saints to intercede on your behalf. And if you happen to fall, get right back up. If you fall again, get right back up again. No matter how many times you slip and fall, always remember to get right back up. You have a race to finish. You are racing to get to the finish line. And you must let nothing get in your way. As you wake up each morning, remember this is the prize you are living for. In the end, nothing else will matter. When you take your last breath, you should want nothing more than our Heavenly Father to greet you with his hands wide open and saying, “Welcome home my beautiful daughter, you have finished the race .”
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing
(2 Timothy 4:7-8)
Selam Seyoum
Tewahedo Orthodox Girl 