The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
Luke 16:8
I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a whole lot easier, from a distance, or from the comfort of our own homes, to say that we do not fight against flesh and blood. Behind all the screens, it’s a whole lot easier for us to say that we fight against powers and principalities, spiritual powers of darkness, and so on.
At least, that’s how I was acting and moving, until we had our own face-to-face encounters with the aforementioned ‘sons of this world’. That’s pretty much what I opened with yesterday.
I was caught off guard, I wasn’t prepared; We weren’t prepared for what came against us, and, at least from my personal point of view, we were defeated…
…and, also from my personal point of view, it’s been a while since I felt the sting of defeat – or, at least, one that cut this deep as to affect me this much. It brought me to my own realizations, of how much the consequences of sin in form of (1) negligence and the repetitive prioritization of quick pleasure and cheap comfort, and (2) cluelessness as to the true brutality of a fallen reality that (2a) is completely devoid of any semblance of empathy, much less honor and (2b) refuses to compromise, but even mocks and taunts us.
And there it is. Whether it’s coming from said powers of darkness or principalities, or by way of who they work through (and in this case, it’s a group of people) – I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; The assault, the strategy has always been the same:
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6
Citing my recent experience as an example: The arguments and lofty opinions raised against the knowledge (and priority) of God did not come suddenly, but crept into my life as early as 30 decades ago, as I have realized how I have been ‘programmed’ since my earliest years, again, to seek quick pleasure and cheap comfort.
Actually, there’s a lot to be said about that: Quick pleasure and cheap comfort. The more satiated our bodies and brains are, the less we are aware of how truly brutal this world is, and the more we’re lulled into a false sense of security.
In other words, it’s not just that we’re clueless – we’re being deceived to think we have a clue. Therefore, it hurts so much more when we are slapped with uncommon confrontations: Our hearts are broken further when our eyes are open.
Anyway, I’m rambling here. Yesterday, I went through the following verses, and gave a little bit of commentary following each set of Scripture:
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and befriend faithfulness.
Psalm 37:3
Yes, regardless of how we’ve been hurt and ridiculed, we give thanks to God, for by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are kept together – enough to always remember that it’s always the ideal option to place our trust in the Lord.
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3
I believe one way for us to trust in the Lord is to ‘befriend faithfulness’ – that is, to keep reminding ourselves that God IS faithful, even when we are faithless; and, more importantly, we’re to remind ourselves that the Lord HIMSELF is our Refuge, the One who would establish us (as He is our Firm Foundation), and the Lord HIMSELF is our Strong Tower, protecting us, guarding us against the assault of the evil one, no matter what form it’s in.
An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 18:15
I’ve been telling everyone, not just the students, that they shouldn’t stop learning. In fact, in our older ages, we have even more cause and reason to keep on learning..
“Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:2-3
..but those of us in the body of Christ are blessed, indeed; why? Because not only do we have the privilege to learn as anyone else would, we also have the privilege of having God on our side – Yes, the same God whom we can call to, who answers and tells us great things, hidden things that we have not known.
We may have a perspective of every circumstance and source of anxiety in our own lives… the enemy certainly has a greater grasp, or a bigger idea of said circumstances, complete with matching strategies to steal, kill and destroy from us with the most gruesome of efficiency.
But the truth of the matter is, through Christ, we have the Creator of the Universe as our Father – the One who knows ALL things: every angle, every detail, EVERYTHING that even our enemies may not know, are known by our God… our God, whom we call our Father, shall give us eternal wisdom, and infinite revelations.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:30-31
The Lord establishes us. He guards us. He answers us, and He tells us great and hidden things that we have not known. But we’re far from saying that’s it.. for as we trust in the Lord, as we call upon Him, and, here, as we WAIT for the Lord, He renews our strength; He makes us mount up with wings like eagles, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint.
It’s not enough that our Father is strong to establish us – no, He renews our own strength in the process.
And that’s not all. I feel it brings me enough peace to know that the Lord does all this for us – but, as we’ll see, He also FIGHTS for us.
In Matthew 10:16, Jesus tells His disciples, and all of us for that matter: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” – take note that we’re sent out, not as foxes, nor as dogs; we’re in the midst of wolves, not as lions or bears, but as SHEEP – natural prey for the wolves.
Is this all to say that we’re to serve as their food? Are we to sit down and play out the part where we’re innocent as doves? Where is being wise as serpents, in this regard?
The sons of this world may be shrewder than we are, but we possess wisdom beyond that of this world – wisdom that has us trusting in the Lord, calling out to Him, and waiting on Him; By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are in possession of wisdom that keeps us together, for our Heavenly Father establishes us, guards us, renews our strength, answers us, and reveals things to us that we do not know…
…we’re to revel in all of this, because He’s the One who repays. Much as our immediate reaction is to fight back, we have the great privilege to take a step back and behold – Vengeance against the evil one, vengeance against all he does against us is the Lord’s.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:19-21
Finally, we’re to be wise by way of feeding our hungry enemies, and giving them a drink. The point here is not for their downfall, but for us to demonstrate how (1) we are not overcome by evil, and (2) they are overcome by good.
I topped it all off by saying, the greatest revenge we could have against anyone in this world, who IS of flesh and blood, is their salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We defeat our enemies by making them our friends. We vanquish the evil one by bringing Christ to them.
Until the next post, God bless you.
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