Fight The WAR

Fight The WAR

By Dustin Hawkins

Constantly fighting the WAR is what we are promoting through this WAR Lifestyle. This WAR lifestyle is a lifestyle of doing; and is a lifestyle of discipline and order. It's a lifelong effort, especially for the addict. We're promoting being God fearing men and women, with idea in mind that life is a test, and even a proving ground, where we have the opportunity to prove ourselves worthy, in hopes of receiving the blessings for capturing the finer things, and even moments of this life. When I speak of finer things, I do not only mean wealth; however wealth and stability seem to come as we strive to live a righteous life. The righteous path is the stable path; it's the path filled with blessings, but are blessings that do not come on our terms. They are blessings that only come on the Invisible Hands terms; therefore patience and endurance are among the most important attributes, because all good things happen to those who are patient, meek, humble, long suffering, and of course - clear.

 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”- Isaiah 55:9

We have to fight our addictions on a daily basis, where we look to do the right thing always. We are going to fall, that's inevitable, but we must get back up and do the right things. Whenever we fall short, which will most likely be often since that is of our human nature; however, it will be okay as long as we are constantly trying to improve; as long as we are constantly fighting the WAR. We need to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit in our failures, and only then will the Invisible Hand of help step in with his grace, then making up for our shortcomings. We have to feel bad about our poor choices, before we ever can improve upon our poor choices. If we just keep floating along, never feeling regret or remorse for our poor decisions, then how can we truly expect to get better since in our mind there would be nothing wrong at all? There would be nothing wrong with neglecting our kids. There would be nothing wrong with stealing from our Dad only to feed our bar tab. There would be nothing wrong with being an invisible dad, never sacrificing a weekend for our children because that would mean cutting into our party time.

 "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." – Psalm 34:18

If we don't feel bad about these things, then in our mind there is nothing wrong, when in reality there is everything wrong. The heart plays a big role in a person’s true character. The man who battles his addiction daily, always striving to be better, but finds himself falling short more often then not, is a man who is being noticed and helped by the Invisible Hand since his heart and soul call to Him daily for help in overcoming his weaknesses. The man who floats aimlessly, as a twig does down a river, who's heart is hard and prideful; this man may not even struggle nearly as bad as the other guy for the substances of this world; but since his heart and mind are constantly on himself, then this is a man who is closed off, and is past feeling, since he thinks that he has no problem whatsoever. This guy might even look down on the first guy, only to try to make himself feel better about his actions.

 “Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” -Ephesians 4:19

In order to successfully win the WAR we have to have the ability to deal with downtime, boredom, and stress. We have to be able to live in the moment, and even grasp on to the more magical moments that only living a clear life can present us with. Like the moments at the park with our kids, watching them play and experience new and exciting things. It's dinner times with the family, only to watch your three-year-old little boy say the prayer. It's the dance recitals; it's the animated movies; it's the laughing and joking with your wife; it's the family vacations, where you get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, and it is up to you to change it, and when doing so - not getting stressed out over the situation. It's the laughter of your children when you are really there, and not off hiding through the substances of this world.Life is full of beautiful learning experiences, that if participated in high, they loose their beauty. When we live in the moment, experiencing things as they really are, and as they really should be, we end up putting off the ways of the natural man, and we live life to the fullest, never being bound nor tied to the substances of this world. Life is hard either way, but life is way harder when we are not free to experience all of life, since that is what these substances steal from us. These substances put us in a hole, never allowing us to see anything outside of what they want us to see. They want us to see ourselves, and they are not promoters of charitable thinking and doing. They want us to see secrecy, lies, and deceit. They want to lift us up, and then drop us down, hoping to confuse us as of to who we really are. They want us running around looking for them, while our family sits at home waiting for their father to return.What we are promoting through the WAR lifestyle is a fight; a fight between participating in right, instead of participating in wrong; a fight between staying on the light path, instead of succumbing towards the ways of the natural man, which is the dark path, or the Dragons path.

“For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” - Mosiah 3: 19