"Quit Fighting!"

Hi, my name is Tommy and I am a scrapper. 

No, not scrapper as in "one who hauls away scrap". 

And definitely NOT as "one who does scrap booking"

By scrapper I mean: a fighter or aggressive competitor, especially one always ready or eager for a fight, argument, or contest: the best lightweight scrapper in boxing; a rugged political scrapper.

As a scrapper, I don't know how to quit; it is hard-wired in me.

In hockey I love the corners and will "fight" the biggest guy if necessary to try to take away the puck. I say "try" because I am not always successful. 

I have been a scrapper from time to time and arm wrestled with leadership; especially when I see a potential problem with a direction that they are going or with incompetence.

I have been a scrapper with Cathy in an attempt to fix a problem, rather than following her suggestion to forgive and let it go. Oftentimes she responds with; "Or we could simply laugh it off and move on."

I have been a scrapper with issues of injustice and whenever I see the scales tipped unfairly.

And, sadly, I have especially have been a scrapper with the Lord. And, even though Jacob did that in the Bible (see Genesis 32), for me, that's not a good thing. Jacob may have felt it was necessary to get the blessing from the Lord by wrestling with Him; for me it stirs up a bad side of being a scrapper.

The truth is, Jacob wasn’t wrestling with the Lord as much as the Lord was wrestling with Jacob. The Lord saw Jacob's need and came down to meet with him. The Lord was breaking Jacob, changing him, transforming him. 

Smith Wigglesworth (referring to Jacob) wrote: “Jacob knew that no one could deliver him but God. And there alone, lean in soul and impoverished in spirit, he met with God. Oh, how we need to get alone with God, to be broken, to be changed, to be transformed! And when we do meet with Him, He interposes, and all care and strife are brought to an end.”  

The Lord is calling me to set aside my agenda and to allow Him to be the Lord of ALL of each and EVERY situation of my life.

He is working on my character and wants me to resist my flesh and to die to MY agenda.

I need to get alone with the Lord; not fight Him, and receive the revelation of His infinite grace and of His wonderful purpose and plans for my life.

He wants me to believe and trust and rest and know that He the Lord is in control, and that He sees it all.

He wants me to stop and to smell every flower and chew every morsel of food; and embrace every life; and know that it will all be alright.

He wants me to give it all to Him and for me to quit fighting Him.

He wants me to get to the point where I have no fight left.

"No Fight Left"
It's hard to tell if my eyes are open

When all I see is dark

And it's easy, it's easy to lose my step

To lose my step

There is no fight left on the inside

But maybe that's where I should be

I've given up trying

I'm giving it all to you

And I used to dream of a life so lovely

There'd be no room for tears

Now letting go, yeah

Letting go is the hardest part

It's the hardest part

There is no fight left on the inside

But maybe that's where I should be

I've given up trying

I'm giving it all to you

Ohhh...

There is no place I can go

Where you don't already know

How to reach right down and pull me out

I need you, I need you, I need you

There is no fight left on the inside

But maybe that's where I should be

I've given up trying

I'm giving it all...

There is no fight left on the inside

But maybe that's where I should be

I've given up trying

I'm giving it all, yeah

I've given up trying

I'm giving it all, yeah

I've given up trying

I'm giving it all to you

Songwriters: JJ Heller / Dave Heller