You know how sometimes you think you understood something and then one day you finally get it and then you wonder what you thought before? It's like you used to know it in your head but one day it makes its way down to your core and it is no longer a piece of knowledge in your head, but a piece of truth that your heart can hold onto. If this has happened to you, you know exactly what I mean. If not, just trust me...it may sound confusing, but it will make perfect sense when you're in that moment. That moment when God gives you the kind of revelation that makes you wonder how you lived a healthy life before you knew it. So many times, the epiphanies He gives me are things I've already discovered but suddenly find a new depth to. A perfect and incredibly simple example of this principal happened to my brother when he was about 4. One day he walked up to my mom with wide eyes and said in a hushed voice one of the most profound things he has probably ever said in his life. "Mommy..." He paused before clearly articulating his revelation. "Good is good...and bad is bad." So simple, obvious, and honestly really funny, but so true! He knew what the words good and bad meant, but one day they just clicked on a new level inside of him and since then he has had one of the most clear grids of what is right and wrong that I have ever encountered. The other night, I realized something that I thought I already knew. That I can't fight my own battles. Now, this is just a stream of my own processing, so before you think I'm crazy, please give me grace in that I don't know the answers to my own questions yet. I am working on sharing my thoughts, though, so here goes. There is plenty in the Bible about fighting. Paul says "I have fought the good fight..." (2 Timothy 4:7) Ephesians says that our struggle is against the enemy and teaches us to put on the armor of God for that very reason (6:10-17). One very clear verse about spiritual warfare is 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." I am a strong believer in the importance of spiritual warfare and through my life have had to do quite a bit of it. Too much to have any doubt in the power of Jesus' name or the importance of calling on His covering and protection, but that's just it, isn't it? It can be deceiving to call it spiritual warfare and have the mental picture of dressing ourselves in armor when in reality, this is what I've found: that I can't fight my own battles. I'm not supposed to. I have no strength or power over the spiritual, nor do I know the "right" prayers to pray to make demons flee or anything like that. Does that contradict the idea of Spiritual warfare? Not in the least, if you have a healthy idea of that term. "Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5) "My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:2) "Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth." (Psalm 63:7-9) I love that picture. And I feel like David - one of the mightiest and most renowned warriors in the entire Bible - had it right. His strength came from him clinging to God. The book of Psalms is full of cries for help, statements of faith that the Lord would be his shield, and thanksgiving for God being his strength. His wild success was rooted in him very actively making God the one he ran to. That is the kind of warfare that I believe we are called to. James 4:7 says "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." It doesn't say to take matters into your own hands, it says to stand up against the devil. Don't sit down in defeat and let him get a clear shot at you, but also be careful to know where you're coming from and "humble yourself before God." Spiritual warfare is completely necessary and I believe it to be a vital part of living my life for Jesus. I want to fight the good fight. I've realized, though, to be careful not to let that turn into a works mentality or a form of trusting in my own strength instead of leaning into His. I am going to actively stand up against the devil and cling to the one who does have all authority and power over the enemy, who He has already defeated. Not out of fear, but out of knowing where my strength lies. And in that I pray that I am one "who dwells in the shelter of the Most High [and] will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." For He will rescue you from the trap of the hunter and from the plague of calamities; He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His truth is a shield and protection." (Psalm 91:1-4) P.S. I had no idea what pinions were, so I looked it up. Apparently its the part of a bird's wings that is where the big feathers are, the ones it uses for flying.
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