As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
Psalm 18:30-32
War Zone
We are smack dab in the middle of 2020. Who knew life would be so crazy? (I mean, besides God… and Doc from Back to the Future).
Global Pandemic Battles Racism Protests (and Riots!) for News Headlines meanwhile Parents Everywhere Scramble to Keep Afloat With Their Little Ones at Home. This could be the long winded headline to the never ending state of alert we live in.
Alarm + confusion = the perfect storm.
We find strength in numbers but are told to socially distance. It takes a village but we fear what we cannot see. Instantly “villages” (even families) are broken along with many hearts.
March 2020: Everything and everyone is contagious and you might catch COVID-19 if you don’t hold your breath and look the other way. Trust no one. Everything is suspect.
Where’s my hand sanitizer?
Wash your hands and sing the alphabet at the same time. No, seriously.
6 feet apart. Delayed shipping. Meat shortages. Prolific bread making at home… Toilet paper. Where’s the toilet paper?
Masks and gloves on, our communities rolled up the welcome mat to any thoughts of giving or receiving hugs. Those who are higher risk are isolated even more in efforts to stay safe yet suffer from loneliness and lack of affection.
How many grandparents miss holding their grand-babies? How many grown children just need a hug from mom or dad? Who misses their people??
July 2020: After 4 months of being extra cautious, many are discovering what’s worse than (potentially) dying is dying alone – or – a breath of fresh (yet possibly infected) air is better than being smothered to death by very healthy, cooped-up children.
There is much more at stake.
But how do we stay safe and healthy (mental/emotional health included?)
While I don’t have the perfect solution (or vaccine) I am reminded what Jesus told us in Luke 10.
What Do We Do?
An expert of the law approached Jesus and testing him asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
In response Jesus asks, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus replies, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
Pressed further to justify himself, the man asked Jesus another question, “And who is my neighbor?”
>>>Insert the story of the Good Samaritan<<<
In short, this parable describes the setting of a man robbed, beaten and left for dead. 3 men approach him but only one stops to help. It wasn’t the pastor. It wasn’t the Levite. It was the Samaritan that stopped and loved the injured man. How? By feeling compassion for him and helping him.
The Samaritan bandages the injured man’s wounds, puts him on his own donkey and brings him to an inn. There he tells the innkeeper to look after him and pays for all his expenses until he returns to check up on him.
Did you catch that? The Good Samaritan didn’t just stop and fix but he came back to check on the man. Love finishes strong, amen?!
At the end of the parable Jesus asks the expert in the law, “Which one of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” to which the (small) man replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (I encourage you to look this one up and read yourself without my commentaries! Luke 10:25-37)
In this fight for our lives and our rights and __________ , don’t forget to simply love. Don’t sanitize your heart along with your body. Allow yourself to be filled with compassion. Allow God to work through you in this time to continue to love. There is always risk in love but love is the greatest of all and love never fails.
Listen to His promptings and stay connected to His heart. God will direct you and show you how to love, help, and even be generous during this time.
Are we really living if we are so disconnected? Jesus said, “Do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:28) We cannot live if we do not love our neighbors as ourselves.
I love what my study bible says about this:
From the parable we learn three principles about loving our neighbor: (1) lack of love is often easy to justify, even though it is never right; (2) our neighbor is anyone of any race, creed, or social background who is in need; (3) love means acting to meet the person’s need. Wherever you live, needy people are close by. There is no good reason for refusing to help.
Life Application Study Bible
There is no good reason for refusing to help. I’ll just leave that there and encourage you to seek God about this and inquire with Him about how you can love your neighbor today.
How Do We Fight?
Remember the story about King Arthur and the sword in the stone? I clearly see this imagery of God, our Rock, and the sword of truth He offers to us.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith… Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Ephesians 6:16-18
Troops, we are called to pray all day regardless of the occasion or circumstance. How we pray is clear: with the Spirit (Holy Spirit), the word of God (Bible).
Just like the story, the Stone (God, our Rock) holds a powerful weapon for us, His children, to take and use should we choose. It’ll take stepping up and approaching the Rock, grabbing hold with both hands and believing (faith) that you were born for this. You are royalty (daughter/son of the King) and you fight with God.
God calls us to victory and doesn’t leave us empty handed. He gives us not just a sword but the sword that will win the fight.
This is what I’m after with you guys. I am after victory in the name of Jesus, united with the Body of Christ.
There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
I still believe in strength in numbers. God listens when our hearts cry out to Him (1 John 5:14-15). The enemy fears this kind of fight… battling lies with Truth… His very Word!
Strategy
Are you ready? Are you ready to actively love and fight for what is yours? Are you ready to be active and no longer passive?
Each Monday I will post a different scripture and I will teach you how to fight with your sword. It’s easier than you think!
I’m calling this powerful battle tool POW: Prayer of the Word. Just like in the old Batman and Robin comic books and cartoons, our prayers will knock out the lies as we regain hope, identity and victory in the name of Jesus!
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39
This is only the beginning for you. I encourage you to take what I offer here and keep fighting. There is no one way to fight but fighting with the sword is essential in any battle.
I’ll encourage you to start here each Monday. One step, one week at a time… pretty soon you will be running with His Spirit battling in prayer, worship, declarations, dreams… God knows! You can even battle in rest.
And all the Mamas said AMEN!
If you’ve been warring already, awesome! I’d love to make this a place of encouragement and would love to hear what God is doing in your life so I too can be encouraged.
We are the Body of Christ and just as our giftings are different, He moves differently in each of us as well. But one thing never changes. Our Rock and Redeemer: God. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8) and His word is flawless (Psalm 18:30).
No one prayed more or harder than a soldier pushed into battle.
This is War
How are you faring?
