“This is How I Fight My Battles…”

Written by Mike Verkaik

For the past month I have had the same song going through my mind. I first heard it with Tim at the conference we attended in Redding, CA. Music has always had a significant influence on my life and as the worship team sang the lyrics of Surrounded, the words resonated with my heart. The verses are as follows:

There’s a table that You’ve prepared for me

In the presence of my enemies

It’s the body and the blood you shed for me

This is how I fight my battles

In the valley I know that You’re with me

And surely your goodness and mercy follow me

So my weapons are praise and thanksgiving

This is how I fight my battles

It may look like I’m surrounded

But I’m surrounded by you

After Tim and I sang Surrounded for the first time we headed back to our room, both humming and singing the chorus. As we discussed the impact of the worship in our room, it was discovered we were blessed by a different section of the song.

The song was birthed out of Psalm 23. Tim’s heart was moved by the thought of the table that our Abba Father has prepared for us, while I was impacted by Biblical truth that we fight our battles with weapons of praise and thanksgiving.

This past weekend the song Surrounded was the focus of our meditation at the Thanksgiving Celebration Oceans hosted for the residents at our motel ministry in Holland, MI.

As we set the tables and prepared the formal dinner/worship time, we experienced many challenges and difficulties. It was brought out in the meditation, that we did it, because we loved them and desired for them to have a special night with each other. Likewise, our Father has prepared a table for us, one that is full of goodness, mercy, grace and love that He lavishes on us. He does this in the middle of our challenges and difficulties. In the midst of our messes, sins, doubts and fears. It is in that setting that He longs for us to sit at His table and converse with Him, to taste and see that He is a good, good Father.

We finished our evening with a time of thanksgiving. Each person shared at least one thing they were thankful for. It was a beautiful moment, sitting at the table with our friends and hearing in the midst of their difficulties how they experienced the blessings of their Father. After all remembering and giving praise and thanksgiving to our Abba Father is the way to fight our battles against an enemy that wants our thoughts to be on our past and present failures.