“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.” – Winston Churchill
Having begun to write this post three times now a month ago at least, I’ve decided just to get it out. I don’t know if I can be eloquent, speaking with creative words that stir the reader to change. I will try, though.
There is a good reason I chose Mr. Churchill’s words for this post. His quote vividly depicts the state of our country today.
We are at war, but the war I am seeing isn’t COVID-19, the political polarization of two parties, the economic mess we are in, or unemployment facing my fellow Americans. Neither is it ANTIFA, BLM, the riots, or the closing of churches. It isn’t about whether wearing a mask is necessary to slow down the virus or if we need a vaccine to make it go away.
Honestly, I’m so done with all those things. Aren’t you, my reader?
So what is the war I’m seeing? Phaedrus coined it: “Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.”
Everything we see in America today is a smokescreen to cover-up a very methodical, diabolical agenda of destruction that began many centuries ago.
But the thing that makes this so challenging, to me at least, is that the enemy hasn’t had to work very hard to get his agenda moving forward.
In my opinion, I see a specific strategy to subvert, undermine, and destroy God’s creation and their relationship with Him and one another.
Let’s start with the big one: COVID-19. This virus has unleashed sickness, fear, panic, insecurity, social distancing, anxiety, terror in some cases, lockdowns, and ultimately thousands of deaths. I could go into more but I’m sure you get my point.
Even bigger than COVID is FEAR. We fear pain and ultimately death. Yet, the Bible is so clear about fear. There is NO fear in love. “We know how much God loves us and we put our trust in HIS LOVE.” 1 John 4:16 It could very easily be misconstrued that I’m saying we shouldn’t have listened to the authorities when they told us back in March to stay home. I’m not saying that AT ALL. I’m addressing fear. Allowing fear to dictate how one perceives this virus determines how one responds and reacts.
As I’m typing, I feel myself having to slow down so as not to get myself worked up. I feel the right side of my tongue beginning to hurt because I have no nerves there from a botched wisdom tooth extraction years ago which means I don’t even know I’m chewing my tongue until it starts to hurt…I digress. Let’s move on.
The political climate: hatred, us against them, we are right, they are wrong. Division, power, greed, control, anger, hostility, animosity…shall I go on? Nah. You get it. All works of the flesh to stir up the pot of disunity.
The collapse of our economy and unemployment: homelessness, hopelessness, despair, anguish, FEAR, discouragement, depression, anxiety, suicide, and that list goes on. None of it life-giving.
Now I want to touch on something I vividly see right now.
Offense. This one tactic has divided the church over and over and it’s time to stop it. Church, the body of Jesus, I implore us all to grow up into the full stature of the measure of Jesus Christ and to lay down immaturity and offense.
What exactly do I mean? Let me explain.
The pandemic and the ‘fear-mongering’ have given Satan a free-for-all to jerk us around by accusing us to one another, making us cowards and fearful, to be honest. We would rather be silent than risk the rejection of being hurt, misunderstood, or disregarded because of how we feel or think.
Enough.
Just stop.
Please.
We need one another.
We cannot win this war when we are holding up false ideas, contrary to LOVE…
I’m gonna be honest here. I live with two men. One is 86 years old and has certain views that I will never understand. I allow him to unravel me in a matter of seconds and mind you, he doesn’t do it intentionally. It’s just who he is and who I am. But we both love Jesus, even if we express that in different ways, I know, in the end, it doesn’t matter. Today was a day of uncovering. I have spent the entire week listening to his TV and praying, repenting for my thoughts that, at times, were just downright mean. Not until today, though, was I ready to own my immaturity and frustration, laying them at Jesus’ feet and intentionally choosing to LOVE HIM for who he is, whether I agree with his ideology or not. We sat together and shared our hearts about the issues going on and the ‘elephant in the room’ regarding our political differences. It was transforming, at least for me, to watch as his heart melted about what really matters to him. And you know what really matters to him? Family.
I told him the reason I wanted to talk to him today was that I was profoundly aware that our enemy has been working overtime to separate us and I didn’t want that to continue. I was offended by his ideas. Offended that he didn’t do this or that and how that affected me. Offended over things that really have no eternal value.
I wonder, do you battle offense, and is that holding you back from linking up with the army of God where you live and serve? People say and do some pretty odd things sometimes, but people aren’t our enemy. We may even know that, but it helps to rehearse it when we feel like people hurt us or dismiss our thoughts.
So…
In wrapping up months of thoughts, feelings, and struggles, it’s imperative to declare the truth.
We must go forward with a determination to love, forgive, be forgiven, and communicate in a way that those listening to us really feel heard.
The biggest weapon we have against the forces of hell is the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
What does that look like for you? I’d love to hear your feedback.
Until next time,
Daune