Her Fight | His Battle: Finding the Beauty of Hope, in the Midst of Unbeautiful Seasons

By Lisa Adams

Have you ever asked yourself, “If God is so good; then why do bad things happen to good people?”

Is God really a good God? Have you ever wondered this question? Can anyone truly answer the question when the shroud of darkness descends upon your life without warning? Or when death is knocking at your door, trying to get you to answer it? You try to ignore it but it won’t stop ringing the doorbell. I asked myself these questions as I was spiraling down an abyss of hopelessness, looking around for a good God that seemed to be M.I.A. (missing in action). I could not understand why God was not showing up now when I needed Him the most. I brooded over these questions in agony…wondering…pondering…is God really good?

This book is how the author Lisa Adams’ held onto hope in the midst of each Season of her life, whether winter, spring, summer, or fall.

Inside are power-packed principles that can be gained from each Season:

• How to Powerfully face opposition in the Winter season.

• How to Rigorously manage your emotions in the Spring season.

• How to Affectionately flourish with God in the Summer season.

• How to Yearn earnestly the things of God in the Fall season.

Each season is interwoven in the fabric of life and will interchangeably prepare you to War Up! War Up is a divinely inspired strategy shared inside this book. There is nothing like being taught by God! Let this book teach you, life-changing principles.

“This book was written with true heartfelt experience.”

—Nina Tillery, Author of Poems from the Heart.

“If you’ve ever wanted to breathe in an in-depth testimony of a true healing encounter with God, this message is the one to behold. You will walk alongside Lisa—detail for detail—and in the end dance with her victoriously as her breakthrough unfolds.”

—Mildred M. Stokes, Author of

Romancing the Beautiful Divine, A Joy Embrace Story Devotional

“Lisa Adam’s book, War Up is a reminder of God’s unfailing love even when life is hard to comprehend and seems outright unfair! She is transparent in sharing her life-altering journey that will leave you yearning for more and ultimately encouraged through all four seasons. I highly recommend this book!”

—Kim Brooks, Bestselling Author of, “He’s Fine...But is He Saved?”

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664245556

Lisa Adams

Many people believe that miracles, signs and wonders are a thing of the past; yet Lisa Adams experienced bountiful blessing of miracles, signs and wonders during this difficult Season.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 Lisa Adams.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

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Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Cover Design: Lisa Adams

Interior Layout: Lisa Adams

ISBN: 978-1-6642-4554-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-4555-6 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/20/2022

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NOTE TO THE READER

Thank you for reading this book. This book is written with love, appreciation, and gratefulness to the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth and everything in it. This book is filled with alerts, analogies, poetry, prayers, quotes, Scriptures, and tells a basic story. Each Season starts with a Scripture. Each chapter has a forecast summary at the end that depicts what is happening in that particular Season and the pivotal points of what the author would need to heed going forward into the next Season. Wherever you see anything bolded or a word Capitalized with Italics, it is to emphasize a point of reference; or what was precious to me during these Seasons.

Take a walk with me through various Seasons in my life where events crash into beautiful colors that collide into a purposeful destiny. May you enjoy the read!

Blessings

Lisa

APPRECIATION

The Whispers of a Mother’s Love

image001.jpg

Mom,

My guardian angel,

you softly spoke these precious words to me:

And this too shall pass!

Mere words cannot express

my heartfelt appreciation,

of your unconditional

whispers of love!

Forever loving you,

Lisa

CONTENTS

Prologue Uncertain Seasons

Winter Solstice: Frosty, Freezing, and Frigid

Chapter 1 Uncompromising Season

The Passion

Chapter 2 Unguarded Season

The Problem

Chapter 3 Unforeseeable Season

The Pursuit

Spring Equinox: Birds, Butterflies, and Blossoms

Chapter 4 Unanswered Season

The Plea

Chapter 5 Unsung Season

The Praise

Chapter 6 Unusual Season

The Prompting

Summer Solstice: Sunny, Sweltering, and Shade

Chapter 7 Unbound Season

The Pruning

Chapter 8 Unfulfilled Season

The Problem

Chapter 9 Unexplainable Season

The Puzzlement

Fall Equinox: Climate, Change, and Colors

Chapter 10 Unyielding Season

The Persistence

Chapter 11 Unloved Season

The Piercing

Chapter 12 Unprecedented Season

The Promise

Season Cast Synopsis:

Seasons Cast: Emancipation, Extraordinaire, Expectation, and Enlightened!

Winter Cast: Unleashed Season

Freedom

Spring Cast: Unlimited Season

Favor

Summer Cast: Unveiling Season

Faith

Fall Cast: Unstoppable Season

Fulfillment

Epilogue: Unconstrained Season . . . Victor’s Crown

PROLOGUE

Uncertain Seasons

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There is a time for everything,

and a SEASON for every activity under the heavens:

. . . He has made everything beautiful in its time . . .

Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 3:11a (NIV)

Beautiful! Strikingly beautiful! When I think of the words strikingly beautiful; I think about the intricate colors and designs of the butterfly. The butterfly is one of God’s most beautiful creations. Many people marvel at the butterfly’s majestic burst of colors; but rarely stop to appreciate the life cycle journey of that majestic splendor. Their majestic splendor emerges from a cute-ugly caterpillar. The cute-ugly caterpillar goes through four basic life cycles (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly) similarly this book is based on four different Seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall). Each Season tells a story and gives voice to the current life cycle within that Season (see chart below).

My voice, in the beginning, is from a victor’s cry which emerged from the harrowing depth of my angst and pains. The angst and pains were captured and canvas with broad strokes upon my heart, mind, body, and soul. Some of these experiences were welcoming and picturesque; while others were filled with the agony of unwelcoming throes. These unwelcoming throes took me on an uncertain journey that became an unforgettable experience! God used these Seasons to transform my cute-ugly-caterpillar circumstances into a beautiful-bold-butterfly that would ultimately represent a victor’s crown!

God’s unconditional loving-kindness has shown me that: He has made everything beautiful in its time—Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV).

FORECAST

Today is cloudy with beaming sun rays peeking through the curtains of puffy white clouds. The temperature high is 68 degrees of beautifulness, with a chance of a 50% increase of pure awesomeness, coupling towards 100% warmth of loving-kindness! A mild wind will sweep in with a sweet calming peace, along with joyful happiness, as the rays of sunshine touch down upon all who are open to receiving the message.

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Every message sent is not necessarily a message that you may

want to hear, yet it is a message that you would need to heed.

WINTER SOLSTICE

Frosty, Freezing, and Frigid

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Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and

I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.

Psalm 119:116 (NIV)

Have you ever wanted to tell someone something sooooo bad that you could not wait to share it with them? When you see the person, you make a beeline towards the individual to share your fantabulous news. You find yourself brimming over with excitement from the anticipation of their supportive response. You begin to share anddddd—you are aghast as you stop mid-sentence at their hard-hearted ice-cold response. You are taken aback! Their response has stunned you silent! Instantly, their ice-glazed frigid facial expression sends an irritated chill through your body.

You think to yourself, what just happened? You are at a loss for words. You and this pessimistic polar arctic type personality do not share the same sentiments about your fantabulous news. You try to shake off their negativity, yet their frigid reaction continues to slide down the wintry slopes of your mind. You begin to second-guess your fantabulous news. You wonder about the individual’s response. You wonder whether your delivery was correct. You wonder whether the person is having a bad day. You wonder, you wonder and you wonder. Like the wheels of wonderment spinning in your head, you wonder again if you should have kept this fantabulous news to yourself.

Yet, in your heart of hearts, you know that - - that is an impossibility. Your heart is full to overflow and bursting at the seams to release this awesome fantabulous news. This news was too beautiful to contain. I wondered who could I find to share with me in this delight—hmmmmm.

My mood pendulum swung from hot hopefulness to lukewarm doubtfulness, and then forcefully thrust into cold-hearted callousness. I was trying not to allow my happy place with God to become frozen with hopelessness. As one author stated:

Hope is truly hard to find with frost-bitten fingers.

ALERT: The Winter Season brings meteorological conditions that come through various atmospheric pressures. These pressures are different for each individual. If you are unable to grasp this message, it is because you are clearly in a Wintery Season, snowbound with a lack of understanding. The one constant about the Winter Season is that you will need a thick coat of clarity, coupled with the hat of understanding, along with a snug pair of gloves for knowledge and discernment. Brrrrrrrr—you feel that? It is Winter—and it is sooooo very cold!

FORECAST

The air pressure is set to pique an outlook range of bold beautiful blue skies. Yet, clouds will swiftly move in and bring a Wintery storm severity index with dewdrops of freezing rain that will chill the air and tickle the frost upon your nose. Gusty winds and dropped temperatures will produce harsh hailstorms.

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Everyone is not on the same page or walking on the same path.

Sometimes you will have to walk your journey alone. The journey

can get very lonely and make you feel a bit frosty. Don’t get stuck

in the freeze-zone, locate the deicer and proceed with caution.

Season beginnings

’Tis the Unpredictable Seasons of Pain!

1

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Uncompromising Season

THE PASSION

O ne beautiful Summer day I took a road trip with some friends (Adriana, Connie, Rochelle) to Charleston, South Carolina—specifically James Island. On the way down we talked and laughed and just had a good ole happy sing-along riding fun girl time. When we arrived in South Carolina, the South Carolinians extended the most gracious hospitality and the food was delicious. I had never heard of anyone eating shrimp and grits —what a delicious concept. On the drive back, Connie and Rochelle fell asleep in the back of the truck while Adriana and I began an unforgettable conversation.

Our conversation flowed. We talked about any and everything. I could not quite put my finger on it, but it was something about this woman that kept pricking at my senses. Suddenly it hit me; the same presence I was feeling at this moment was the same presence that I felt with a co-worker name Theresa in a similar conversation about fifteen years ago. This in itself intrigued me. Somehow, I instinctively knew that these two beautiful women were of one in the same Spirit. Neither one of these two women knew each other. What stood out for me was that neither of them mentioned Jesus. They never profess a religion or uttered a religious expression, which is the norm in the Christian faith. Not once did either of them say Praise God! Not once did either of them say Glory, Hallelujah, or Amen during our conversation—yet without knowing if either were Christians, something in me felt the need to ask both of them the same question, "are you saved?"

Now let me be clear, I truly did not know what I was asking. Yet, those were the words that tumbled out of my mouth both times with each woman. I had no idea what saved