A LETTER BEFORE THE FIGHT BEGINS

Before you go further, I'd like to tell you something.

This devotional wasn’t written in a quiet cabin with candles and soft worship music in the background. I wish it had been. I wish I could say I sat down one morning with a hot cup of tea, opened my journal, and the words just glided like a calm stream. But that wouldn’t be true, and that’s not why we’re here. We’re here because we’re in the middle of a real battle and need to talk honestly. In fact, The Long Fight was written right in the middle of one.

I wrote this devotional through tears I couldn’t describe, prayers that were mostly groans, and the kind of spiritual exhaustion that makes a warrior want to drop their sword and just stop.

Yet, remembering what my father told me about such times: “When you can’t see God’s hand in the situation, trust His heart,” I didn’t give up. And if you're reading this devotional at the moment — then neither did you.

More than you might realize, friend, the enemy’s goal isn’t just to make you fall. He wants you to give up and believe the struggle isn’t worth it. In the same tired voice he’s used since the garden, he whispers, "You’ve come this far, but you’ll never make it the rest of the way. "He’s a liar.

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

I wrote "The Long Fight" for the weary warrior. Not the kind of tiredness a nap can fix, but the deep exhaustion that settles down to your bones.

I’m writing this for anyone who still believes in Jesus but feels left out. Maybe you used to raise your hands in worship, but now, after a long fight, you only whisper the words. This devotional is for the person who prays for others but forgets they can pray for themselves too. It’s for the warrior who keeps holding on, even when no one has encouraged them for a long time. I want you to know that I see you. I’m with you, and I’m also in a long fight.

Most importantly, God sees you and remembers the armor you wear.

Why Seven Days?

At times we don't need forty. At other times, we don't need a program that lasts a whole year, a twelve-step course of study, or another podcast series we start and never finish.

Sometimes we just need a week.

For seven days, show up. For seven days, open the Word. For seven days, let God speak to the places where you’ve been too afraid or too tired to let Him in.

Seven days to recall who we are and seven days to recall whose we are.

That’s what this devotional is. It’s not a cure or a formula. It’s a fight plan: short enough to finish, but deep enough to change you.

I promise you, as your coach, friend, and fellow warrior, if you devote yourself to these seven days, you can expect to notice God’s presence more strongly.

What You’ll Need

You don’t need much, friend. Just:

• A Bible (any translation, and bring the one you actually read)

• A journal or notebook (you’re going to want to take notes)

• A pen

• A peaceful spot, even if it’s just your car in the parking lot of your favorite store

• A heart that’s genuine, even if it’s broken, bruised, or worn, is enough. Just bring it.

That’s it. That’s the whole list.

A Warning Before You Begin

I’d be doing you a disservice if I neglected to warn you of this:

The enemy will continue to fight you for the next seven days! He may even increase the intensity of the attacks. Certainly, he will! I’m not saying this to scare you (for God has not given us a spirit of fear), but to prepare you. As soon as you commit to completing this devotional and decide to spend the next seven days with God, you become a threat. Not to God—He has never been threatened by anything. But to the enemy’s plan for your life, you become a real, living, praying problem. You need to expect that your schedule will break down, that your phone will ring more frequently, that there will be interruptions and distractions, and that people who are around you may suddenly ask for your help.

And when that occurs, smile.

That's the way you'll know you're on the right track; the enemy won't use up his ammunition against people who aren't going anywhere.

One Last Thing Before We Begin

I am not writing this book for you. I am writing this book with you.

I am involved in a struggle every single day and the fight has been long. Although I am a coach, I am also a child of God, and like you, I have to put on my armor every morning. I have to fight to maintain my peace, and I have to remind myself of who God has told me I am when the mirror tries to make me think differently. I have to make the choice, over and over again, to keep showing up.

When you read this devotional, know that I am not someone who has things perfectly sorted and has come out on the other side. Rather, I am someone who is walking right beside you, holding you up in prayer and asking you to do the same for me as we say, 'Lord, we’re doing this. Let’s go.'

Because we are, my fellow warrior. We’re doing this together.

“Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].”

— Ephesians 6:13 (AMP)

I’ll see you on Day 1.

Seven days, one battle, one God, and one warrior rising.

Coach

Kathryn