But no weapon will be able to hurt you; you will have an answer for all who accuse you. I will defend my servants and give them victory.” The Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 54:17 GNT)
Nothing formed against you shall stand. You hold the whole world in Your hands. I'm holding on to Your promises. You are faithful. You are faithful. I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side. Whom Shall I Fear-Chris Tomlin
Trials, problems, issues, drama...it seems to be all around us lately. While I do somewhat live in a bubble, I'm certainly not immune to these things. Sometimes they're self inflicted, but oftentimes, they're the result of having a real enemy. Whether you believe it or not, the Bible is very clear about our enemy. In John 10:10, it says that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. As I look around me, I see plenty of that. Our enemy steals our time by keeping us distracted with the cares of the world. He steals our joy by keeping us involved in the cares of the world and the drama around us. He kills relationships by making us think that someone else would be better for us. Families are dying because of this. He makes us think that we know what's best for us and more selfishness creeps in. He destroys life at its very beginning by making us think it's our choice and that we can do what we want with our bodies. He's working in our government to such extent that now they are legislating morality and forcing laws upon us. What's even worse is that he's working to such an extent that he has people fooled into not even being able to think for themselves. Society is literally leading us right up to the very gates of hell with promises of freedom and choice. All of this is the ploy of our enemy, the devil, satan. Whatever name you want to call him, he's the god of this world. People are following him because he's leading and screaming directions at them loudly and clearly while the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit is wanting us to pay attention and listen to His direction.
So where is God in all of this? He's on His throne. He's in control. He's allowing people to go their own way. Why? Because He's God and because He gives us freedom to do so. He's never forced His will upon us, and He never will. The only thing that we as humans can relate this to is our own parents or parenting. While I tried to be a perfect parent, I fell, and still fall, very, very short. I raised my kids to love God, go to church, be moral people and responsible adults. Does that mean that they are those things? Not necessarily. In my parenting of them, I also had to give them free choice. I could have kept them at home in a cage or locked in their rooms and forced my will upon them for their entire lives. I could have kept them out of society and raised them on our farm/ranch and had them work and used them as slaves. However, people go to jail for things like that! But we somehow expect God to do that to us. Oh I know. You're disagreeing right now but think of it like this. Something bad happens to us, a child becomes a prodigal, a spouse leaves, a terminal disease hits, and we say, "God, why did You do this to me?" God could have kept us locked in a cage so to speak, out of the world, being slaves to His will forced upon us, and none of that may have happened. We could be part of a religious sect where people aren't free to be in the world and be sheltered from some things. But the fact is that the Bible is all too clear that Christ came to set us free from bondage. Being locked in a cage or being kept out of the world in some strict religious sect isn't freedom. That isn't God's plan for us. So why did God "do" this bad thing to us? He didn't. It's a result of having the freedom to be in the world. The Bible says that we are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to be set apart, different, a peculiar people. We are to be in the world in order to be light and salt, to dispel darkness and bring seasoning and preservation. How are we going to tell others about the good news of Jesus coming to set us free if we're not in the world? The world isn't looking for Jesus. The world is looking for self gratification. Once again, why did God "do" this to us? The answer again...He didn't, but He does allow hard things to come our way. Why? To make us stronger so that we have a testimony of His freedom and grace. If you look at all of the characters in the Bible, each of them had struggles and things happen to them that made them stronger so that by the end of their allotted pages in the Bible they were victorious. Even Sampson was victorious in death. Look at the life of Moses. He was abandoned by his natural parents and left in a basket in the river. What if the king's daughter hadn't been in that exact spot that day? The story would have a much different twist but still somehow God's will would have been accomplished. What if Noah hadn't obeyed and not built the ark? What if David hadn't had an affair with Bathsheba, had her husband killed, and then lost his own son as a result? We wouldn't have a great portion of the Psalms to encourage us. If all the people in the Bible had lived perfect lives, it would be a great book of fairytales. However, all of the things that God allowed to happen to the people of the Bible happened to make them stronger and for examples for us.
So what if we were to write the stories of our lives in Bible fashion? What would that look like? I'm afraid mine wouldn't be too pretty if I wrote it honestly. I've been through some things. I've seen ugliness in my life. I've made wrong choices and had to get back on the right path. Some things have been allowed in my life that I wish hadn't. Oh how I wish they hadn't! But through it all, God is still in ultimate control. There's no weapon of the enemy that can be successful against me. The God of angel armies is always by my side. He's always with me. I'm never alone. He's always fighting for me. Like the perfect parent that I want to be, he's leading and guiding but never pushing. He's allowing me to be shaped and molded into a better person by allowing the things that I've had to go through. I'm not talking here about consequences to my dumb choices. That's a topic for another day but rather things beyond my control without an apparent reason or maybe due to the choices of others in my life. That seems to be the hardest for me to deal with. Our choices aren't just our choices. They really do affect others in our lives. Once again, another topic for another day.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:32, 36 NKJV)
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. (Galatians 5:1 NLT)