When is a Battle Worth a Fight?

Nothing can start a war quicker in a preschool classroom than different colored chairs. Some kids will refuse to sit unless they can claim their preferred color. If someone else has that color, an argument ensues.  There may be tears. Or a tussle. Teachers must arbitrate.
To adults, this seems like a silly thing to fight over. Yet we tend to battle over things that are equally insignificant — and fail to fight for things that really matter.
In the wake of recent school shootings, we see politicians fighting over gun laws, the use of social media, and how to detect mental illness.  They fail to see the deeper issues: how to reach the lonely kids who have no godly influences in their lives; who have no moral values instilled in them; who have no God to turn to when they hit life’s road-bumps. Kids who are already broken by the time they reach their teens and want to lash out at those who have hurt them.
Christians, we should be mounting a battle of prayer against the forces that seek to destroy so many youth. The battle is a spiritual one—for the hearts and minds of the next generation. Pray for those who are reaching out in various ministries to troubled youth. Pray for God’s love to invade our schools, communities and homes. Pray that the broken will be healed.