An exclusive excerpt from The God You Need to Know
by Margaret Feinberg
Staring into the mirror after my most recent surgery, I looked like I'd stepped on a land mine. The nurses had warned of the "cumulative" effects of cancer treatment, but I didn't understand until I felt it in every fiber of my being. The body can only take so much.
A year of chemotherapy, dozens of rounds of radiation, and five surgeries had gnawed through my resilience and resolve. Still in my thirties, I found myself fighting for medical care, fighting insurance, fighting infections—fighting for my life. Even when the war ended, the battle didn't.
Though our struggles differ, we all face warrior seasons. Sometimes we choose the battle, but more often, the battle chooses us.
Maybe yours began with a diagnosis, or with a traumatic injury.
Perhaps you've stood over the grave of a loved one, or you're fighting the stinging disappointment that life didn't turn out the way you expected.
Whatever the shape, battles can leave us weary, an empty shell of our former selves.
C.S. Lewis once wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain." One reason He shouts is because pain drowns out everything else.
In my own season of cancer, I heard the Spirit echo loudly: "For the battle is not yours, but God's." His voice cut through the noise and gave me hope.
Maybe you, too, know what it feels like to be battle-weary—scars on the body, scars in the soul.
Perhaps, today, the Spirit is prompting you to lay down your sword and step into God's presence more than you ever have before.
This is the heart of my new Bible study, The God You Need To Know. If you long to hear the Spirit's voice and embrace the vibrant, joy-filled life Jesus promised—despite painful circumstances and seasons—I invite you to join us.
It may be the very reminder that your heart needs: you are not alone in your battles—and that God's Spirit is still fighting for you.
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Friends, when you join the OBS with FaithGateway, you'll receive a free resource kit and six teaching videos to help awaken the Holy Spirit in your life and experience the Spirit as your comforter, helper, and guide. Please consider signing up today. I can't wait to go on this journey with you.
~Margaret
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