Helpers

Spiritual Warfare

Over the past years I have often heard spiritual leaders talk about being attacked by Satan. They often talk in words and images that what they are going through is worse than what "other people" go through. This has always seemed a little strange to me. Since I have left the "pastorate" this seems even stranger.

While some may believe that "position" or title is the cause of spiritual attacks, I do not. If you say it is not the "position" but the responsibility that is the cause of more attacks, I might agree. But also ask. "What is more contrary to the devils plans than doing the will of God?" Isn't everyone who is "not conforming" to the plans of Satan his enemy?

Now I hear in my mind the voices of pastors and shepherds informing me that they are responsible for the care and feeding of the flock, thus Satan is more intentional about them. I could share with you the inability of evil to be intentional because rebellion, fear, anxiety, jealously, bitterness and rage all exist in the organization of the evil one, but you probably already know that. So let me just say, that Satan tends not to attack the strong, but the week.

Jesus did encounter temptations with the devil in the wilderness, but this was not a spiritual attack, it was temptations. We should not get into the habit of calling ongoing trials and temptations spiritual attacks.

Well the point I want to get is this. If we truly believe in the priesthood of all believers than we all face the same kinds of spiritual attacks. The business owner, the plumber, the banker and the janitor all face the same level of attacks by the enemy because each person is vital to the will of God on earth. While we often talk about the Eph. 4 ministry gifts to the church, which are for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, we don't truly practice it. The "gifts" tend to keep the focus on themselves and have not yet learned to love others as themselves. I could be totally wrong about all this.

My final life observation is that broken people often face the biggest giants and spiritual attacks. Evil, being evil seems to feed on the helpless, the weak and the isolated. They do not stop just to go and attack some healthy pastor or leader. Evil calculates by destruction and the sick gratification destroying brings. In my observations, seldom is the good person every undergone the torment that the person already wounded by evil endures. If you want to see the "voices in my head, cutting my body, raging out of control, oppressed to the point of killing myself kind of spiritual warfare; find someone who is bitter, angry, unforgiving, selfish and sit with them as the drink, smoke, pop, entertain themselves on very sick humor, mock the good, love the evil, curse, despise and yield to the thousand voices screaming at them.

You may come away thinking that God is my shield and strength, His is my ever present protector and I truly an sheltered under His mighty wing

Just Make it Stop

Lately I have been driven to the point in pain where I cry out (inside anyway) "Just make it stop". This is a very bad place. When our lives get consumed with any one thing (other than living life with God, who is three in one, so you never ever really have only one thing with God) stuff happens.

The stuff that I am thinking about is what we do when we are fully self focused. I think most of us know how we live when we are about 75% self focused. For Americans this is our everyday style of living. But when we start to top out, say around the low 90's, we enter in the "meet my needs now" world. Everyone is different. Some turn to drugs, to TV, to food (food is good),exercise, isolation, talking, controlling things; we all seek to become distracted from the pain. What is your favorite treatment?

I would like to tell you how to become united with God so that you do not feel your pain, but it doesn't work like that. In a weird way (one that you will not understand unless you are a very close friend of God) your pain in an invitation to life in Christ Jesus. It is like Jesus in the garden before the crucifixion. The turmoil and pain that He was to go through was going to be His life. He had to set His face on making it through. To do that He focused on Himself? No, he focused on the will of the Father.

You can tell "how dead" someone is by what they do when someone else messes with their rights. When you have given up your right to life, to a life without pain and suffering, you have given up your life on a whole deeper level. Let me tell you that if you have issues with someone rejecting you, all you need is sever pain in your back, legs, nerves, feet and hips for several days and you will not even be focusing on what others think. Unless of course you have a great storehouse of pride and think that the whole world is about YOU!

If you think what I am telling you is just wrong, you can contact our brothers and sisters around the world and ask them. Contact the men and women who had their hands cuff off for being Christian, the family who has waited 15 years for daddy to get out of prison, The teen girl that was raped by the solider and then required to confront him with forgiveness. All around us, everyday are people who suffer, but with a heart full of worship. They are not unaware of their suffering. The are not delivered from it. They are over comers in the midst of it. These people are saints, my hero's, my prayer partners, my friends.

If you can't give it all up now - give what you can.