Under Siege

There is a story of how Alexander the Great conquered the city of Tyre. Tyre had a fortress on an island not far from the shore. The walls were strong and the towers high, so siege from ships was not a realistic option because the towers easily outranged them. Even if they hadn't, there would be no place to land on the rocky coast of the island.

Alexander decided to do the nearly impossible: he had a bridge built from the mainland to the island fortress. The bridge was about half a mile long, all in stone and wood, with the enemy raining fire and arrows down on them as they got close and trying to get ships close enough to attack them. The Tyreans burned the bridge once when it was almost complete, but Alexander simply rebuilt it. Finally, after a year-long siege, he took the city.

There are other examples of sieges, both in fact and fiction. There's Nebuchadnezzar besieging Jerusalem for two years, the Greeks laying siege to Troy for ten years, and the very quick siege of Constantinople in 1453 that took just six weeks. The reason there are many examples of sieges is that it is such an effective form of warfare if the attacker has the patience. If they can just cut off the water or food supply to the city, it will be on its knees. For self-sufficient cities, which were rare, the attacker had freedom of movement and the ability to replenish its numbers and supplies, resulting in a war of attrition the besieged city was sure to lose unless they came out from the city and drove off the attacker or had an ally save them.

In our day-to-day lives, laying siege to something is also one of the surest ways to get it. Developing an attitude of, "I'm going to do this, no matter what it takes or how long I have to wait for it," will almost assuredly mean you get it. God could still easily prevent it, yes, but He doesn't seem to prevent much in our lives if we're dead set on something simply because it is always within His power to fix things if we call on Him.

I heard two stories last night. One was of a man who cheated on his wife and she took him back, not just once, but three times. He would be good for two weeks, swear he would change and that he was committed, and then go back to the secretary he was seeing on the side. His friend got on him about it and the guy said he knew it was wrong, but his wife was being unresponsive. She didn't trust him after only two weeks and so didn't want to be intimate with him and he used that as an excuse to get what he wanted from someone else. He gave up the siege easily.

Another man had his wife leave him because of an anger issue he had. She took the kids and moved out. After a little while, they started talking again and hashing things out and he would come over and see his kids and tuck them into bed and then leave. One night as he left, he saw his little boy's hand come up in the window and wave goodbye. From that moment on, he was committed to doing whatever it took to heal his relationship with his family. It took over a year for his wife to trust him enough to move back in with him, and he wanted to give up plenty of times during that year, but he didn't. He kept at the siege until he won.

When life hands us setbacks, when our volleys are repelled by the city walls or, worse, when the city attacks and everything we try to do blows up in our faces, we all too often give up. We look for an easier target, as though there is some city made of gold out there that has only a little white picket fence for a wall. The only treasure I can think of that can be won with instant gratification and no work is the lottery and your odds of winning that with just one ticket are less than your odds of getting struck by lightning. If you want something worthwhile, you have to be prepared to fight for it, fight hard, fight long, fight when everything in you wants to give up and walk away.

When you find something you want more than anything else, lay siege to it. Go for it and don't give up on it until God tells you to. If He doesn't, you'll get it if you can just hold on.

*Author's note: I don't mean this to apply to relationships with a particular person, unless that person is already tied to you as a member of your family. Laying siege to the idea of having a good, loving marriage is great; laying siege to the idea that it has to be a particular person who doesn't see you that way is a good way to miss out on God's best for you. In other words, before you besiege something, pray and pray hard about it. Know that it's God's will, particularly if it is with another person, and ask trusted friends to pray and confirm it; once you know it is right and God's perfect will, lay hold of it and don't let go until you get it.

"Have fun storming the castle!"