I thought battles had to be loud. Explosions, enemies, chaos you could point at. But the hardest fight is not out there. It is the one that rages in silence, inside your own mind.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28)
There was a night I did not want to keep going. I did not say it out loud, but deep down I had already surrendered. In the military I learned to bury my emotions. Out in the world I learned to numb them. Both left me empty.
That is when Matthew 11:28 broke into my thoughts. I was not looking for Jesus, but He was looking for me.
The enemy is not always loud. Sometimes it is just a whisper that convinces you to stay silent. The silence itself becomes a battlefield, like a trench no one else can see. You look steady in public, but at night the fight comes rushing back.
That night God’s presence did not come with noise. It was just peace, and it did not make sense, but it held me. Philippians 4:7 calls it a peace that “surpasses understanding.” I felt it guard me when nothing else could.
Faith is not pretending the war is not real. For me, it was finally surrendering to the One who had already won it.
The war no one sees is the one Jesus already defeated. I do not have to collapse in silence anymore, and neither do you.
Reflection Question
What hidden war are you carrying, and will you let Jesus fight it with you?
In Luminance 