55. War is Coming
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[00:00:00] Right now, the world needs great men who will stand up and lead with honor, serve with purpose, and courageously fulfill their God given roles as husbands, fathers, leaders, and men. I'm your host, Franklin Swan, bringing you practical tools and powerful conversations you can use every day to build yourself into the man God is calling you to be.

This is The World Needs Men. Let's go. All right, welcome back to the World Needs Men podcast. I am your host, Franklin Swan, and it's almost the end of the year. It's like a couple weeks out from, uh, from, uh, January 1, and Everyone knows this is the time of year when a few things happen. We start thinking about goals for next year.

We start thinking about a lot of people think about their new [00:01:00] year's resolution, which we, you know, most of us know, or, you know, it's kind of a joke. A lot of people take their foot off the gas. I mean, this is the, the season of separation as one of the men that I work with, uh, stated. And, uh, he was talking about how his, his office has turned into pretty much a whole frat house, uh, during this last couple of weeks of the year.

And as I was, as we're coming to the end of the year, I've been reflecting a bit, reflecting over this year and in past years. And one of the things that I have really come to realize is it doesn't matter what goals we set. We set goals, expectations, some people set their, their New Year's resolutions. We set fitness goals.

We're going to go and set these business or financial goals, all these things. That's all great. Should do those things. There's nothing wrong with it. It actually is really, really helpful and beneficial. Here's, uh, here's where I want to go with this, men. Here, here's the message in this little short podcast today, but, but here's the message I want to hit home.

I [00:02:00] look back at 2020. January 2020, I thought that I had the whole year mapped out. I mean, even 2020 is like, oh yeah, like I'm going to get clear, like the road ahead is just, uh, is just going to be paved for me. And, as we all know, shortly, uh, shortly after 2020 started, we had COVID hit. What I've learned is that every single year, there has been a battle and a war that I've had to face.

I mean, whether that was COVID attacking my business, whether it's been challenges with family and relationships, whether it's been health challenges, whether it's been spiritual battles every year. You know, what's up for grabs and what's up for question is the goals that we're going to set and the things that we're going to pursue.

But here's what is a non negotiable that is going to come this this year, and I will promise you there is war coming. There is a war that you cannot anticipate, that you cannot expect, that you cannot predict, and it is coming. [00:03:00] And that's life. And that is, I think, men what we are called to pursue and be ready for and to train for.

And I don't mean war in a literal sense. I don't mean literal bombs, literal bullets flying. The war I'm talking about is the one that shows up on your doorstep and the war that you face inside of your marriage or the war that you face with a health issue in your body or a war that you face in leading your children, or a war that you face in running your company, or a war that you face in living out and pursuing the mission that God has called you to.

So, the war's coming. That's a given. Like, I don't know what it is that's coming for you. Like, I do not know. But what I know it is, is that something is coming and it may just attack on one front. It just, it may be a body issue. It may be a physical thing. It may be a marriage thing. It could be multiple.

You could [00:04:00] have multiple wars, multiple battles that are coming next year that you can't predict. Last year, I had a spine surgery and I had a traumatic neck injury. I had zero ability to predict that that would happen at the beginning of the year. If you had told me on January 1 of 2024 that I was going to be having a spine surgery in six months, I would have told you, you were out of your mind.

Lo and behold, there I was. And so what do we do this? Well, is we're coming into this year plan. Yes. But I would say equally as important, men, is that we prepare. We have to prepare ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for whatever war is coming, because here's the thing, our families, our wives, our children, our teams, our community relies on the men to show up and be competent and capable and able to [00:05:00] defend And to provide and to protect and to wage war.

And maybe that sounds like a, you know, maybe that's, that's too much. Maybe it's like, ah, come on, Franklin, you're being hard. You're making this bigger than it really is. Am I? If something comes for your marriage. That's war. If something's coming after your kids, it's war. If something's coming after your health, it's war.

And to approach it as anything less than that is you not stepping into what you're called to as a man, what I'm called to as a man. So what should we be doing beyond planning for next year? We should prepare. We should look at what are our habits and routines that are going to put us on point, because we don't know if this war is going to show up on our door on January 1 or December 31st, but whatever day it is, it's coming.

And the only question is, are you going to be ready? Are you going to be prepared? Are you going to be the man that your family can look to, count on, and come to when the storm hits? [00:06:00] Are you an asset to your family or are you a liability? That's the simple way of looking at it, men. If we aren't helping our families, we're hurting them.

We're either an asset and something that's going to contribute in a positive way, or we're a liability. So what are some ways, men, that we can prepare ourselves? Well, number one's your body. If, if you have neglected your body, now's the time to start taking care of it. Why? And it's not to lose 10 pounds, please, 20 pounds, 30, I don't care.

You're preparing your body as a weapon to be utilized in the defense of your family, whatever it is that shows up. A healthy man with a body that is weaponized and serving him will unequivocally be able to provide and protect his family better, period. So you're doing this because you as a man. Have that responsibility.

You can't take care of your family if you're not taking care of your body. Period. [00:07:00] Otherwise, you can prepare for this. Any addictions that you have in your life that are not serving you right now, eliminate those. You will be more clear, be able to think better, process through how to respond to challenge that arises.

Get clear on your faith. Like, when the hard times come, I promise you the number one thing you're going to be able to want to lean on is strength and courage from God. It's interesting in the Bible, it literally tells us, fear not, 365 times. It also tells us, I don't know how many, but a ton, be strong and courageous, and ultimately men, that's what we are called to as men, and we seek that courage and we seek that strength from our Heavenly Father.

Double down on your relationship with your family. Take your wife on a date night. Take your kids on dates. Pour into them every single day, strengthen that bond. There's a, another verse in the Bible that talks about the wealth, a man's wealth is like a, is like a fortress around him or, you know, I don't think that is just from a financial sense.[00:08:00]

I think a man's physical wealth in his health is like the walls of a fortress. I think his relationships. If you have a strong relationship with your wife and with your children, whatever challenge comes this year, whatever war you face, you will be able to face it better. I believe that our spiritual health and our walk with God is like a fortress around us.

All the things that are real wealth beyond just financial are like walls of a fortress around us as we head into this coming year. Other thing you do is have some solid friendships. Build some friendships with a couple of men that you can trust and that you can run with. It will be there to help you and be there to walk alongside you with whatever's coming your way.

As I walked through the past year with, with my injury, there were some key men who showed up in my life and were massively helpful in me navigating and walking through that season. There are [00:09:00] so many ways that you can prepare for this coming year. There's so many things that you can do to implement into your life so that when that thing knocks on your door, you're ready.

What you don't want to be is unprepared. You don't want to be asleep, checked out, and just hoping that everything's going to go well this year. We can't be gamblers, gentlemen. We have to be active. We have to be intentional when it comes to leading our families. So, as 2024 comes to a close and 2025 quickly approaches, Do your planning, do your goal setting.

That's great, but also spend equally as much time thinking through how will I step into the war that will come and find its way to my doorstep? How will I prepare myself physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally? How will I Improve my physical health. How will I [00:10:00] develop better bonds and deeper connection with my family?

How will I build friends around myself? How will I deepen my connection with God? How will I put systems and processes and things in place in my business? All of these things in preparation for whatever's to come. And if somehow nothing does come, great, you're that much further along. But whether it's this year, next year, this month, next month, Something's coming and it's your job to be prepared for it.

So Happy New Year Gentleman. War is coming and the only question is, will you be ready? Let's go.

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And until next time, be the man [00:11:00] the world needs.