The Middle of the Battle

By Julie Butcher

Do you have the faith to believe God will be with you in the middle of your battle and render you victorious in the end?

We all go through hard times, trials, and difficult experiences in life - battles.

• How will you handle the middle of the battle, in the darkest hour, when you feel alone and without hope?
• What can you

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Feb 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890413499

Book preview

Dedication

To God, thank you for being my Lord and Savior and never leaving me or forsaking me during my darkest moments. Thank you for your never-ending love, grace, and mercy in my life. I feel truly blessed that you gave me the opportunity to tell my story and share how you are glorified even in the midst of the battle.

To my husband, Brad, thank you for your infinite and unconditional love and support during all my trials and tribulations. Thank you for always reminding me of God’s goodness and faithfulness even when my faith was weak and for encouraging me to write this book. I feel beyond blessed that God chose you to be my husband.

To my son Leon, and my family, thank you for walking with me side by side during the middle of my battle. I know that this walk has not been easy for you, and I am and will be forever grateful for your love and support during this journey; I could not have done it without you.

To everyone who is going through the middle of a battle right now, I dedicate this book to you. I prayed for every single one of you constantly during this journey. My hope and prayer are that you will be able to taste and see God’s goodness and faithfulness during your battle and that at the end you will stand victorious on the firm foundation of our Lord and Savior.

With Love,

Julie

Let’s Pray…

Lord, I praise you because you are such a faithful God; even in our darkest times you are ever present. I pray for every person that will read this book. Lord, I may not know what each person is going through right now, but you do. Your word says that you will never leave us or forsake us, and your promises are true yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Please give them an overabundance of faith and strength so they can stand firm on your promises. I pray that in the midst of their battles they can taste and see your goodness and their relationship with you will be stronger than ever before. Lord, your word says that you can turn what the enemy meant for evil into something good. Please take these battles and make something beautiful out of them in each person’s life according to your will. Please turn these battles into each person’s unique testimony of your never-failing love and faithfulness. In your name, I proclaim victory over their lives today!

In your precious name we pray,

Amen

Foreword

I occasionally have lunch with a brother who is a retired firefighter. We have been friends for over twenty-five years and know each other very well. We have similar interests such as riding motorcycles and volunteering to help other first responders deal with critical incident stress, addictions, and other stressors in their lives. We have a custom of throwing our keys on the table as we greet one another. We proceed to share our lives over a meal. The conversation always turns to the struggles and difficulties we are each currently facing. Relational issues, our adult children, vehicle accidents, my cancer battles, his health issues, are just a sample of the topics covered. Rarely do we solve each other’s dilemmas, but it is good to have someone with an empathetic ear who really cares. Before leaving, we ask if the other would like to trade keys, which represent each other’s struggles. We always decide that we will take back our own keys, not wanting the other’s troubles.

If I ever played that game with Julie Butcher, I would not even throw my keys on the table. My wife and I have walked alongside Julie and Brad for over ten years, and there always seems to be an impossible crisis going on in their lives. As you will read, Julie has suffered greatly in her physical body. What is truly amazing is Julie’s faith in the midst of every trial or tribulation that she faces. When most would give up in despair, Julie digs in her heels and trusts that somehow God will intervene. Julie’s story will inspire and encourage you. You may be facing a difficult situation that seems, or actually is impossible. If so, Julie has a message you need to hear.

Mark Goodman

FD Chaplain Services, Inc., Retired Fire Marshal, and Pastor

Introduction

You are probably wondering why I would want to share my personal story with you. Truth is – I had no interest in writing a book. However, I knew that God was calling me to write this book. And let me tell you, this was not a subtle nudge from God! Everywhere I turned people would tell me that I should write a book. I even had one of my good Christian friends tell me that she would love to ghost write my story for me! As much as I wanted to take my friend up on her offer - that would have been the easy way out. I felt that God was asking me to write the book and not to just delegate it to my friend. Nonetheless, writing this book was not easy for me. I struggled with being vulnerable and disclosing private aspects of my life and the life of my family. But God was ever present in the process. As I began to write this book and share my story, God continued to move in me in ways that I could never have imagined. Looking back on my trials and tribulations, I am honestly in awe of God’s overwhelming faithfulness in each and every battle. I can clearly see God’s hand in every single one of them!

Now, let me tell you the irony of this book! During every battle that I have been through I always prayed for two things. First, I would pray, God, don’t you think I have been through enough? And, after not hearing the response that I wanted to hear from God, I would pray that God would use my battles to help at least one person - then I thought I could take comfort in knowing my pain and suffering was not without value (of course, I often overlooked the fact that my pain and suffering was refining my own faith). Even then, I did not know that God was going to prompt me to write a book. However, inside I felt God calling me to write. Of course, I was not immediately obedient. I kept telling God in prayer that I didn’t have enough to say. Or, that I was not equipped because I had no theological education or training. I was not a pastor, or a person in any position to be giving Christian advice to others! All these thoughts and doubts were lies from the enemy! My story exemplifies God’s grace, faithfulness, and glory! Writing my story is about witnessing to God’s power in my life through faith and obedience. My hope is that this book will encourage you to be steadfast in your faith and obedient to God while you are in the middle of your own battles and that it will help you see God’s faithfulness in your story too! And remember, once you can see God’s faithfulness in your story you can use it as a powerful witness and testimony to encourage and exhort others. Come to think of it, most of the great witnesses and testimonies have often begun in the middle of a battle!

The Hot Pursuit

The enemy has been pursuing me since I was conceived in my mother’s womb. I was not born and raised in a traditional family. My mother and my father were not married. When my mother found out she was pregnant with me, a close family member counseled her to abort me. I am so grateful that my mother did not listen to this worldly advice and decided to continue with her pregnancy or this story would never have been written. After I was born, I was just two months old when I first started having health issues. It began with asthma and by the time I was eight years old, I was dealing with water in my lungs. I remember screaming hysterically in the hospital with unbearable pain. My medical issues continued with multiple hospital stays and surgeries throughout my teen years.

In the later part of my teen years, the enemy took a different approach. At age sixteen, I was raped by a close family member. This event nearly broke me emotionally and almost destroyed my family. When my father found out, he questioned me and was less than sympathetic to my situation. I remember running out of my house and into the