Life gets tough. Wait, scratch that. Life can be downright turbulent. Yes, that’s better. I tend to put things mildly at times, not to minimize what life is like in that moment, but rather to inform others that it indeed has been rough, but I’m still in the game, and still moving forward. I love what a prophet once spoke to me via the Holy Spirit – “It’s like you’re not afraid how deep you go. Rather you’re like it’s either I sink or swim, and it doesn’t make any difference because you’re going to continue to pursue depth. It’s like the waves are coming and the sea seems rough, but you’re so set on going deeper, no matter what comes your way. You know you’re not going to sink, but you’re saying this, ‘Whether I sink or swim. I’m going to keep on going deeper and deeper. I’m going to keep on going further and further.'” The Holy Spirit knows me well, and He was right on.

Oftentimes I have felt like I was sinking, but then suddenly it was as if I was plucked up out of the tumultuous waves and set on dry ground. My self-proclaimed theme song, Tubthumping by Chumbawamba, says it well when they repeatedly sing, “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down.” Memories flood my mind of all the times I have been hurt, severely wounded, and traumatized, and it never ceases to amaze me that I got back up, healed, and was ready to go again. I wonder just how I was able to get back on my feet after everything that had happened; I then remember, it wasn’t in my strength that I was able to get back up, nor was I able to heal myself – it was God’s doing.

As I stood motionless in the shower, relishing every second under the spray of hot water, I silently talked to God about everything that has been going on in my life. Shortly after I stopped talking, He began talking to me. The Lord has always called me His warrior and has shown me myself, overcoming numerous obstacles. However, what He called me this time, and said to me this time, was a little different than usual. This time He said, “You are a Regenerative Warrior.”

We are in a battle here on this earth. We are not fighting against flesh and blood, but “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places,” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV). Most people who get hit and wounded in battle never make it back up; they’re either left incapacitated, or they’re completely taken out of the game. Many are defeated in their minds, leaving them completely paralyzed and unable to carry out God’s plans for their lives; fear cripples them, negative memories plague them, thoughts of failure haunt them, and flashbacks of traumatic events stop them in their tracks. Others seem to thwart the attacks with ease, coming out of battle unscathed. How do they do it? The answer is found in Psalm 121.

“From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore,” (Psalm 121:1-8).

It is the Lord God who keeps us. It is He who provides us with the necessary armor and weapons to ward off the enemy of our souls. Ephesians 6:13 tells us to “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day…” The armor of God includes the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, sandals (or shoes) of peace, shield of faith (“with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” vs 16), helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (“which is the word of God” vs 17). Sometimes we forget to use our sword, or we forget what God said about us, and we leave ourselves exposed and open to enemy attack, resulting in emotional wounds. However, it’s not the end. You as well are a Regenerative Warrior.

A Regenerative Warrior will not ever stay down. “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord,” (Jeremiah 30:17). The Lord “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,” (Psalm 147:3). When we take all our hurts, all our disappointments, and whatever negative things we have endured, to the Lord, we have the ability to bounce right back. I’m not saying we’ll always get over things instantaneously. Depending on where we are in our walk with the Lord, some things may take longer than others, but they’re not going to keep us down forever. Quite obviously, a broken bone takes longer to heal than a paper cut, and the pain from stubbing your toe will take a lot less time than that.

“But you don’t know what I’ve been through! I feel like I’ve been trampled and left for dead!” I am reminded of the two witnesses in Revelation 11 who were conquered and killed by the beast and left in the street. The enemy thought he had won, but then the breath of God entered them, and brought them back to life. You may look dead – you may be laying on the couch day in, day out, depressed, feeling no good for anything, but the breath of God will fill you and bring you back to life! Lord God, I ask you right now to breathe your life into all the dead areas within the lives of everyone who reads this, and stand them back up on their feet, in Jesus’ name.

We are unstoppable in Christ! God is always right there to revive us, to heal us, to restore us, to help us forgive, to keep us from the things that would harm us. The closer we are to the Lord, the less time it takes for us to get back up – to bounce back. Suddenly the attacks become as nothing because we are fully equipped in our armor, and we aren’t able to be knocked off our feet. We are skilled in battle because He teaches our hands to war (Psalm 144:1).

Let’s recap quick. We are in a spiritual battle here on this earth. As human beings, we get hurt, wounded, and sometimes even traumatized. However, as born-again believers and followers of Christ, we have regenerative abilities, and though we may get wounded, the Lord completely heals and restores us, and sets us back up on our feet, which makes us unstoppable.