“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:8-11 (NIV)
“Little children, you belong to God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 (ISV)
I believe. Oh how I believe.
There are days when looking up and seeing beyond my current
circumstances feels like trying to lift a ship anchor from the deep waters of
the sea. It’s hard. It’s painstaking.
It’s needed.
The irony usually shines through because when I feel hope
and faith rising in me with a fiery passion, it usually means God is raising me
up to partner with Him on something and then I know-it’s coming. The attack
from the enemy of my soul is coming. Not because I want it to but because any
good thing God is raising up in me will surely be to defeat the enemy’s
schemes.
So I fight.
And it’s tiring.
Do you ever feel like you can see attacks coming at you from
every angle? Relentlessly, without rest. It's become a familiar rhythm in my life in recent years. One that is difficult and beautiful. Difficult because this world has trouble for us and we can't avoid it. Beautiful because I know the evidence of God in my life is threatening enough to the devil that he feels the need to run after me.
That is glorious tension.
I've learned that those circumstances that get us feeling defeated and
distracted and down-right depressed, those can either take our eyes off our
savior, or they can thrust us into His arms. You can imagine which one the
devil would like us to do-we need to recognize what he wants us to
do. More importantly, we need to recognize that anything that tries to
throw us off course of our race, doesn’t have the power to.
It's important to understand that God doesn't tempt us to do wrong. He tests us, yes.
Our faith will often be put through the fiery furnace so that our loving Father
can refine us. But He will never throw rocks at us to make us run off course. The enemy is the one who throws the venomous arrows.
Why am I writing this? Why is this important? There are two
things heavy on my heart as I write this.
1. We must keep our eyes focused on the finish line
or we will not stay on course.
Just as a runner must never look to his left or right when
leaping down the track, we, God’s disciples, must keep our eyes focused
straight ahead, not allowing distraction to throw us off course. There is a
greater purpose for our lives and we must remember that God has destined us to
work with Him, to further His Kingdom while we are here on earth. That’s it. It’s
simple. But we can’t overcome the schemes, the deception, without
the impenetrable defense of the almighty God. Which brings me to the second weight on my
heart.
2. Our only defense in thwarting off distraction
from the devil, is God himself.
We are only as strong as the Word is strong in us. There is
a reason God tells us to daily put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6). It’s not
so we can look like good Christians, it’s so that we are prepared to fight
battle-literal spiritual battle. We must allow the Word itself to penetrate us
therefore changing us and arming us fully to stand up and fight, at any time.
The devil has lost the battle, dear church. We have nothing
to fear. But until we are home with our Heavenly, Holy Father, we must not
underestimate the vicious way our enemy is fighting for the souls of people. He will not back down and neither can we. The question every
person must answer is this- whose side are we on? As Christians, our answer is
simply that we are on the winning side. The side that is already victorious. We
know the ending and so does the devil-that’s why he’s fighting so hard.
Today while driving my mini-van to preschool, I felt a faith
rise up in me that nearly left me speechless. All I could utter was, “I believe
God because I simply believe Him.” I am beginning to see that there is nothing more dangerous than a Christian who truly believes God. Not believe's in Him. But believes Him. Simple belief stripped of our own preconceived ideas and fantasies. Just belief because He is God. After a few
minutes of praying this out loud I turned around and asked my little girls what
they believe about God. They rattled off truths about God that had my eyes
swelling with tears. The simple, profound faith of my girls rocks me sometimes.
They teach me so much about what it looks like to just believe God.
If today was one of those days for you, a day that left you
feeling defeated and down and unsure, I urge you to stand up and fight. Don't allow the evil one to penetrate your mind with his lies. Open your Bible and choose the Word as your sword against attack. And then, once you are saturated with the truth of God, consider saying out loud or
writing down your “I believe’s” about God- praising Him. Lies and deceit from the enemy stand powerless against the power of praising Jesus Christ.
….because praising Abba changes the atmosphere of our lives.
Fighting the good fight alongside you,
Chels
