June 20, 2019
We all have a daily schedule. Wake up, eat breakfast, get ready for school or work, countdown the hours until it is time to go home, relax by watching t.v./ reading a book/ hanging out with friends, eat dinner, and go to sleep with the next day looking the same.
Now this is definitely a general outline, but you get the idea and can fill in what your daily life looks like. But something we all do is get caught up the busyness of our day to day life. This is something I have found myself guilty of in the past year. I got comfortable being comfortable and ignored what God was calling me to do.
My eyes have been open to a spiritual battle that is being fought every single day. I always knew that there was a spiritual platform that Satan liked to play unfair on and we communicated to God through, but I don’t think I ever took it seriously. Brooke, one of the ladies discipling me this summer, talked about what it meant for her being a part of this spiritual battle and the importance of fighting in it. For her it means protecting the people who do not know Jesus and are blind to the battle. It looks like her standing, clothed with the armor of God, between the enemy and these people.
God has given us the tools, so why not use them? He has assured us of his authority over the enemy. How crazy would it be if we lived our lives as if we believed that?
“Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear it will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”
John 5:25-27, NIV
We were also given authority through Jesus.
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
Luke 10:19, NIV
After I heard Brooke talking about being a part of the spiritual battle, I was convicted. I wanted to be fighting the battle, but I had taken myself out of it. I had backed down when a deep wound was formed. I didn’t want to be hurt anymore. Instead of letting God heal it properly, I took it out of God’s hands, took it upon myself to bandage up the wound and stepped to the sideline to protect myself. I threw myself into a busy schedule and started to put up walls around my heart to people. I find it easier to put a smile on my face and say everything was okay then be vulnerable about what was really going on, but that quickly became exhausting.
When I stepped to the sideline, I left my defense and left relationships I had with people wide open for the enemy to attack. I allowed the enemy to get the headline instead of finding Jesus in the midst of it all and giving him praise. I let my relationship with God become more private. For some reason, I thought this was going to solve all my problems and make life easier. Let me tell you, being without community and thinking you can do everything on your own is lonely and frustrating. It is a lie from the enemy that is used to isolate yourself so he has an easier target.
The community that has been built in Celje has been overwhelmingly supportive. These people love so deeply and constantly push each other and pray for one another. They protect one another and the people around them. They set an example of what it means to take up your cross daily and follow after Christ, putting on the armor of God.
When I realized the spiritual battle that was going on around me, I felt like cold water had been splashed on me and I finally snapped out of this daze I found myself in. God was clear about who is welcome at his table. (hint: everyone) So why treat my relationship with God so privately? God was perfectly clear that his invitation was an open invite to anyone who wants to accept. Everyone is invited and everyone is worth being fought for.
