the lion, the bear and the battle...

So had a great Urban Conversation today at 614 Melbourne about human trafficking in Australia. People are interested and getting involved.. it's very encouraging. I was wondering though, after talking with another friend about the connection between external fights and internal battles...
I couldn't help but think of David - who when he saw goliath taunting Israel knew that he could fight him because David had already fought the lion and the bear and had won - when no-one was watching... except maybe some sheep.
Then I'm thinking the same thing happened with Samson - on his way to Philistines... he was surprised by a lion and it tried to kill him but he rose up and defeated the lion -and no one knew... and I think somehow this all relates to holiness.

Holiness isn't just inward purity - it's inward victory that results in powerful external battles being waged and won by warriors who know how to fight because they've fought the greatest battle of all - the internal battle with sin - when no one was looking. The whole 'dead to self thing' (check out Romans if you need more explanation). I've found in my life that that battle happens more than once... sometimes it seems the dead parts try to rise up and the battle happens again... Samson and David are also great examples of this (except not so great - because they didn't fair so well the second, third, fourth time...). I'm praying for a sustained holiness, a deepening of the inward victory - a widening of the external battles... I'm praying for grace in the midst of the inward battle and the outward victory. I guess I'm just living up to one of my nicknames... 'gracehog'! Bring it.