Chapter Fifty-nine:
With today's modern
technology, it is very easy to keep up not only with what is happening in the
local news, but we can get instantaneous news updates from every part of the
world, even as the events are actually
unfolding. This availability of
technology can be overwhelming at times.
There are probably times in your life, if you have access to such
technology and availability of information, that you feel like you need to just
shut if off for a while because it can become so overwhelming.
Unfortunately, many believers
are doing that on a spiritual level.
Even though we realize the Church
continues to become more like the world and less like how God desires the Body
of Christ to be, we find that it is easier and less stressful to simply ignore what
is going on around us. We hope that if
we can ignore it, it will make our lives less complicated and more manageable
as the world is becoming a harder place in which to live. We can find many things
to blame for what is happening, whether it be politics, the lowered standard
of morals we see around us or how society has become more materialistic and
less interested in the things of God. So,
why is it becoming harder to live this life of ours to the point that we feel
the need to tune out?
The cause, the reason behind
what we are seeing and experiencing in the world today is simply this...the
attack by the enemy of God, Satan, is ongoing and is getting much stronger. The spiritual forces that are against God are
setting their aim against not only anyone who may be considering becoming a
believer, but particularly against every
true believer and every Bible believing Church and some of us do not want to
acknowledge that fact. And if we do not
want to acknowledge it, why on earth would we want to live our lives as though
we were in some type of war, which is exactly the situation. We have allowed
the desires and cares of this world and the stress of everyday life to keep our
focus off of spiritual matters, and most importantly, spiritual readiness.
Please remember that just
because we do not actively go out of our way to bother the enemy does not mean
that he will stop carrying out his plans to try to destroy us. He will not stop harassing us just because we
do not want to get involved. While we may
think that if we can manage to stay out of things that we will remain
untouched, the actual opposite is going to happen. If we are unprepared for what Scripture tells
us is going on, we will find ourselves in a bad predicament. We will be like
the soldier who had to fight in the war that he wanted no part of, but in
realizing he could not avoid it, found he was unprepared for it and suddenly
wished with all his heart that he had been preparing for it.
Matthew 24:3 tells of how the
disciples approached Jesus and asked Him what the signs of the end times would
be. He told them of wars, rumors of
wars, and how believers would be hated by all nations for His name's sake. Stop
and think about this for a minute. We
have become so accustomed to hearing about another war or turbulent times that
we just tune it out. But what about
where Jesus warns that believers will be hated because of their choosing
to follow Him? It should worry us that we are possibly unprepared and simply
not ready for what is going to happen to us if we continue to stand with
Christ. We cannot hide from it and we
cannot ignore it or wish it away. So we really only have one option....to be prepared.
How do we prepare? We must be
a people who walk close with our Lord in prayer, and who are in tune with the
Holy Spirit for His promptings, leading and guidance . We must be a people who study the Bible in
order to be fed spiritually. We must
fast and pray and seek the Lord's face to find out what He would have us do.
We must be a people who recognize
that there are things happening all about us in the unseen realms, particularly
as we are going about our normal, daily routines. It is easy to let our guard
down when we feel our lives are just going along and not much is
happening. It is then that the enemy is
more likely to attack because he will find us in a state of unpreparedness. We
must be a people who have made the decision that we are willing to go to
battle. We must be a people who do all we can to remain spiritually strong. And
all the while we are doing these things we must remember to not allow fear to
enter into our hearts as that will be our Achilles heel.
One of the main weapons the
enemy tries to use against believers is fear, because he knows it leads to our doubting and questioning God
rather than standing alongside Him in the battle and being in tune with what He
wants us to do. Satan will do whatever he
can to try to dissuade us, distract us, and
to ultimately get us to walk away because
it is all too much to deal with. But remember, we are taught in Scripture that
the battle is ultimately the Lord's and it is He who will prevail, but we still
must play an important part in all of this. We are to be His foot soldiers,
doing what He commands. Second Timothy
2:4 says, " No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian
affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer." In other
words, we have to be working alongside God and be open to being used by Him and
not allow our daily, earthly concerns get in the way.
Charles Spurgeon said, "
The Christian soldier hath no gun and no sword, for he fighteth not with
men. It is with 'spiritual wickedness in high places' that he fights, and
with other principalities and powers than with those that sit on thrones and
hold sceptres in their hands."
We are to fight the good
fight. Matthew 24:13 challenges us when
it says "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." It implies
that it will not be easy and that some will decide to give up, give in and walk away. We must not allow our
earthly concerns, or lack of desire to be involved, to be what keeps us from
fighting and enduring to the end. We are promised in the Scriptures that what
awaits us is far more worthwhile and everlasting than what we could ever hope
to attain in this world.
