Ephesians 6:12-13 - Not Flesh-and-Blood Enemies

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 6:12-13 (NLT, BSB, respectively)

With everything going on recently, our problems seem magnified beyond belief. Everyone is politically charged. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone feels that they have the moral high ground. Everyone is focusing on his/her ideals. 

And, as in anything, no one is pleased. 

It's this thing we've fought for in this country so long - the democratic process. It's messy and annoying and frustrating as all get out. Social media further amplifies each voice, sending each message out to others who, inevitably, may not agree. As my husband puts it, what once was just shared over a bowl of cereal is out there for hundreds of people to see. Even the Presidential candidates are using this medium in a very unprofessional way. There is something about social media and something about this election; in my experience so far, no one really has wanted to engage and explore and try to come up with a solution.

Everyone has their thoughts and opinions and beliefs and whoever doesn't agree is a a villain. Attacks instead of intelligent and productive conversations are the rule of the day. 

Do we just stop the conversation and keep to the whole, "Don't talk about money, politics, or religion" rot? I'm an idealist who truly believes that it's part of our rights as citizens to debate, discuss, and grow from one another even if we have completely polar opposite ideas. Maybe I'm just a nerd because I love hearing what others think. 

But....

When did disagreeing with someone's ideas become hate?

When did Christians decide that it was an effective way to show Christ's love by publicly scathing each other in front of all their friends and relatives online? [preaching to myself here, too]

And how do we expect to solve any problems - left, right, or center - by parroting nonsense and telling others to delete their accounts?

How do we show human compassion in the wake of a tragedy by arguing about guns, terrorism, gender issues, and religion?

I'm not advocating relativism, but we have some complex problems and a complex world.

We - as Christians and as humans - do not need to be attacking each other or the people we disagree with or any person. We need to realize that we have a common Enemy. Satan is a destroyer and a deceiver, the source of all evil, and as long as we use human wisdom and point fingers at people we disagree with, we're never going to "get it."

There are politicians out there right now that make my flesh crawl to think about. But they are not my enemy. Those who are trying to equate what this terrorist did in Orlando to what Christians think are not my enemies.

According to this scripture, my only enemies are:

• evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world
  
  
• mighty powers in this dark world
  
  
• evil spirits in the heavenly places. 

Those are the entities I need to be fighting by using the one offensive weapon that consistently works - constant, constant prayer. Satan probably just laughs to himself when I get all riled up on Facebook. It's just a distraction that pulls more people in, keeping us from doing what we're called to do and not glorifying Christ in the process.

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." (2 Corinthians 10:4)

When I see things online that I disagree with I'm going to try to follow my recent rule to just stay out of it, but if I can't, I am going to remember that I'm truly wrestling with the prince of darkness - not my friends, acquaintances, etc.

John 17:14-21 - They Do Not Belong to the World

I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one--as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

John 17:14-21

When I get to thinking about things going on in the world, it gets to me. As mentioned elsewhere here in my posts, I am the type that just wants to love people, and I have a very live and let live mentality, especially when it comes to politics. But when any type of freedom of expression is threatened, that's where I dig in my heels and turn into someone totally different. This election has had me at my worst on social media and in conversations. Many people this year are likewise as outspoken and passionate because this election is causing people to examine their ideals of what we can and should be as a society.

No matter how much I truly do love people I disagree with, I am still terrified for this generation of children growing up and the kind of world they are going to have. With our freedoms as Christians being threatened by the day by an angry populace that associates belief in Jesus with the crazy actions of the radical, lunatic jerks of Westboro and that now has decided to become the thought police, I see a lot of bad things on the horizon.

Last night, some friends and I were having that discussion, and it got me in a place where I was, once again, feeling like the sky could be falling any second. Right now things in this nation are not dire. We may have some freedom of speech threatened and are being called some silly and inaccurate names by people who don't like us. That's not a big deal. But looking into the future, well, it's not going to get better politically or morally.

However, this morning I feel the need to remind myself that God is in control. Jesus foresaw many bleak, deadly situations for His followers and His prayer above illustrates the attitude He had. He prayed for the disciples with Him in that moment and all who would ever believe in Him. US! And He didn't pray for us to be taken from the world, but for us to be kept safe from the evil one (which in Greek is porneros - and you can tell what that's related to). 

One thing we discussed last night was what to tell our kids about certain things, and in my own heart I wonder how to raise a son in a world that keeps getting darker and darker, a place where a faith in Jesus is now a minor liability and could at any moment turn into a life-endangering ideology. This passage comforts me and informs how I am going to proceed. As Christians we are NOT of this world, and it's natural that we are going to be hated. Our purpose here is to represent Jesus, who Himself was hated and killed. 

Elsewhere, Jesus mentions that the servant is not greater than his/her master... So we can't expect better treatment than He received. Right now, Christians are being martyred around the world for their faith. Can we expect to be next? I believe at some point that will happen here, but that is not something that I need to be fearful of. I need to love my family, friends, and neighbors and remember where my true home is. I need to share Jesus with others, regardless of the cost.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 - Let Your Words Be Few

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
Ecclesiastes 5:2

I haven't blogged in a while because I feel that I have, over the course of my life, thrown words around without really pausing to consider their greater meaning or consequences. Just because I can write doesn't mean I am called to write. Just because I have a thought doesn't mean everyone needs to know about it. When I'm presenting words in this blog regarding faith and my relationship with God, I need to more carefully consider this fact. The internet makes the words more public, more resounding (even if I have just a tiny audience).

I have learned many things in my Christian walk this year, and this - keeping my mouth closed - is one of them. God is sovereign, and we, as mere humans, cannot presume to understand his mysterious ways or what he may be doing in our lives. Today I just read the portion of Job where Job gets a big dressing down from God for all the complaints he has brought before him.

God is GOD. 

Sitting on His throne in heaven.

Just this fact alone hurts my brain a little to a lot. 

Yes, God does want to hear our hearts and our complaints even in the hardest times, but ... this focus verse suggests we need to keep our mouths shut if and when possible.

We should keeping silence before the holiness of God at times, not requesting something that, in all practicality, may not be the best for us or may be harder to deal with than we imagine from our finite perspective.

At the outset of this weird, challenging, and still extremely blessed year, I pledged before God and the world that I wanted to get healthy in mind, body, soul, and spirit. Great goal. But do I perfectly understand how those things are woven together? Can I presume to tell God want I, a peon made of dust, want to work on this year? 

God is leading me and guiding me in the areas that I asked and prayed for, addressing some long term strongholds. But it's in a way that I did not expect. Definitely, it's not in a way I would have chosen if I were writing the story.

Still, I am excited to be led by his hand in a way I do not know.

And I'm trying to remember to keep silent and listen, to let God teach me.

Luke 18:41 - I Want to See!

"What do you want me to do for you?" 

"Lord," he said, "I want to see!"

Luke 18:41

My heart is filled with compassion toward the blind beggar who is sitting by the side of the road in the verse preceding the focus verse. Blind, helpess, relying on others for his daily needs due to his disability, he hears that it is Jesus passing by. 

At that point, he starts screaming, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

No doubt, he has heard of Jesus's other miracles and believes that Jesus can work a similar miracle on his behalf. Despite those around him yelling at him to be quiet, he persists until Jesus actually hears him.

So many of us are like that man, having our own problems, insecurities, fears, health issues, disabilities, worries. Modern science and medicine, themselves miracles, can often help with some of these problems. The danger for people of faith is that in trusting only medicine and science, we blindly miss the point that those methods are not the only way God works.

Just because we have different ways of getting our health needs met these days doesn't negate the fact that God still can and does work miracles. That's why He sent Jesus. That's why we call on His name.

I know that in my own life, I face the giants of my own fears daily. When it comes right down to it, Jesus is the one I must call on. He is the one who brings ultimate healing. He is the one that calms the storms and changes lives - miraculously. Sometimes in an instant, sometimes through a process: often in ways we least expect.

James 5:15 says:

Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.

Prayer for healing is an area where we as believers cannot give up even if we think the answer God may be giving is no because we don't know the mind of God or how He may be choosing to show Himself strong on behalf of believers.

Life Verse: 1 Kings 19:11-12 - A Still Small Voice

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

1 Kings 19:11-12

Elijah has just shut down all the prophets of Baal in a major showdown over who is really God. Literal fire from heaven provided an amazing proof of God's presence and power. It was an enormous victory of faith for a man whose lifestyle was hardcore - living in the wilderness and praying so effectually that God listened and mightily displayed His splendor.

This victory placed an enormous target on Elijah's back. Jezebel's threats and maybe just physical exhaustion took their toll. Elijah is depressed and anxious to the point of wanting to give up, begging God to take his life because he is "no better than [his] fathers." 

His perspective drops from an in-your-face Satan attitude to one of total defeat. He seems to believe that God's unique calling on his life is, after all, not valid. That he will be yet another failure that cannot be used for God's purposes. All he can see are the obstacles that still stand in the way plus his own tiny abilities. This happens to Christians so easily when we are not focusing on God's power in us. Considering the prospect of standing against the enemy in our own strength is legitimately terrifying. 

So God sends a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire to Elijah as he stands on the mountain before Him. All these seem to be stereotypical ways we would expect God to speak. Awe inspiring, somewhat terrifying. But the Lord was not in any of those. Like Elijah, we expect our walk with God to always entail big, dramatic things we can look at and say, "Yep, there's God at work." Obviously, God does things like that. He has just done that with Elijah prior to our focus verse.  But that's not the only way He works.

Last comes the still small voice, or gentle whisper. More often than not, we experience God in a much subtler but just as real way. A still, small voice - the Holy Spirit - guiding us through situations, speaking truth into our lives, telling us where to go next.

In this case, God reveals other prophets who have not worshipped Baal. Soon after, he sends Elisha to comfort Elijah and take up the torch. His gentle whisperings offer hope and perspective. God can and does send fire from heaven in miraculous displays, but he also directs our path in ways that we don't expect and works his purposes in ways that aren't always immediately apparent.

God constantly reminds us that it's not just us working by ourselves against all the dark things in this world. It's Him that gives us strength to do the impossible and to become more than we actually are, ever reflecting his glory as the Spirit makes us more and more like him (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Matthew 15:28 - Prayer + Desperation

"Dear woman," Jesus said to her, "your faith is great. Your request is granted." And her daughter was instantly healed.
Matthew 15:28

This woman's persistence is impressive. Her plight - a demon possessed daughter - is desperate, and she absolutely refuses to give up begging for Jesus to intervene. She knows He alone is her daughter's chance at wholeness, so she does not allow herself to be intimidated by protocol - the racial and gender barriers of the day. She is willing to face scorn, misunderstanding, and repeated denials.

Her actions mirror effective prayer. Her faith and trust are so fully placed in Jesus that she makes an annoyance of herself when He tells her no. She is not passive. In boldness, she is not going to let this go without a fight. I admire her strength in enduring all she could for her daughter's only hope. It's the kind of endurance that comes only through a faith that refuses to give up.

I'm sometimes a little uncomfortable with Jesus denying her repeatedly when He so quickly acted on behalf of many others, but I believe this is the way He works. Sometimes prayers are instantly answered. Other times, often in our difficult places, we have to persist. Our faith is being tested. Not out of unfairness or unkindness but to help us grow into an increasing faith.

This scene is the epitome of James 1:3-4:

Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 Also, this reminds me of part of one of my favorite poems (which, it turns out, is a hymn):

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

-God Moves in a Mysterious Way

by William Cowper
(His story that I just learned - whoah!)