If I'm honest the events of our world are beginning to weigh heavy. I've been trying to wrap my head around the enormity of it all and I've been seeking God to give me wisdom in understanding the spiritual aspect of our new reality.
It feels as though we are in labor - experiencing the pains that are necessary before the birth of a child....before a new life can be realized.
I am a believer in Jesus Christ and have walked with Him for over 50 years. I have heard the sermons and read about the events that will happen the closer we get to the return of Jesus. I have read the Bible through several times but being transparent - the prophetic books on the end of times are confusing to me and I am not a scholar on what things will look like as we move along.
My heart is not to interpret the events of our current day - my heart is to know how to pray and encourage others as we move through the events that are going to happen. These events we cannot stop - they must happen as God's plan is unrolled. My heart is for God to give us wisdom in order to know how to navigate through the battles that we are going to face while pointing others to Jesus.
In times of trouble - we, as believers, know the end. We know that these events have to happen in order for God to take back our world and Jesus to take His rightly place. But there are those who are vulnerable and Satan is using his battle tactics to capture as many causalities of war as he can. We, as believers, are the voice in the wilderness grabbing up as many as we can for Him.
So, the battle plan of the enemy is set. It has been since the beginning of time. There are 4 things to we need to focus on if we are to understand a battle:
Our enemy
Goal of the enemy
Strategies of the enemy
Our defensive strategies
Our enemy is Satan: I Peter 5:8 tells us to Be sober and alert. Your enemy, the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.
The goal of the enemy is destroy our faith and turn our eyes from our Father. James 2:19 tells us that even the demons of darkness believe that there is but one God -- and they shudder and John 10:10 tells us that the enemy's goal is to steal and kill and destroy. To steal as many souls as He can.
There are many different types of offensive military strategies in a battle plan and we have seen Satan use several over our lifetime. The current sickness (COVID-19) is yet another. 2 Corinthians 2:11 says that in order that we not be taken advantage of by Satan - we need to know our enemy and we need to know his schemes.
In researching military tactics and the strategies that have been used to win wars in the past - the following strategies seemed to fit our current battle:
Persisting strategy - designed to destroy the means by which the party sustains itself.
Encirclement strategy - designed to isolate and surround enemy forces
Blockade strategy – designed as an attempt to cut off food, supplies
Punishment strategy–designed to push a society beyond its economic and emotional/psychological breaking point
Do any of these sound familiar? Without a doubt. You can just picture Satan in his war room mapping out ways to destroy with the final goal being to crush us under the strain so we will turn our eyes from Jesus.
But remember God wins and we are going in with our defensive strategy knowing this. So take heart -our strategy is to Pray and Point others to Jesus, who wins in the end. We cannot stop the events that are going to happen and the battles that we are going to face because God's word outlines these as we move closer to the coming of Jesus.
The pains of childbirth are necessary for a child to be born - new life to come.
Remember Jesus faced a battle of His own - one that He would not stop. He knew that He Himself would have to suffer both emotionally (being rejected by God Himself) and physically through horrible abuse. This battle on the cross had to happen if we were to have a new life in Him. But His prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane from Luke 22:42 was Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.
Can we stop the battles that we are facing and that we are going to face as we near the coming of Jesus? No. But in the midst of those battles - we put our faith totally in the one who controls it all. We point others to the saving knowledge of Jesus because He gives the key to eternal life. And we minister to those around us - emotionally, physically and spiritually so that they will not fall victim to our enemy.
My prayer today is:
Father God, my heart is heavy with the oppressive darkness that we face. People are scared and they are hurting. The labor pains of your plan are in full force. People are dying, losing their jobs - their security and their hope. But we have the hope of Jesus - the new life that He has given us because He has overcome darkness and the grave. Let us take the opportunities that we now have to point others to Him. We cling to You and pray that Your will be done. We trust You and know that Your eyes are upon us.
We just adore You. Amen.
