darkness and light

The older I get, the more the enemy begins to truly feel like what he is... my enemy. And not just my enemy - the enemy of everything good, everything possible, everything beautiful, hopeful, righteous, set apart, and whole. The enemy of God and all of us He calls His own.

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Having grown up in church (and especially, a church youth group), I commonly heard John 10:10 preached: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." In principle, it was a fairly easy verse to understand - my mind would conjure up images of a lion, crouching around in the brushes waiting and watching my every move, seeking at the moment of my vulnerability to attack and kill and destroy life. In those days of youth, I admittedly think at times that I saw the enemy as more of an outright carnivore, rather than a thief of joy. Either way, the end result is the same - destruction of life. But the assault of such life has been ever-increasing in intensity and complexity, the longer I walk with and grow stronger in the Lord.

Christ is the final Conquerer and Overcomer (Phil. 2:9-10), so I do not hold the enemy's cunning to be equal to the strength and redemptive power of our Warrior God - but although the ultimate war has been won, there are hearts and lives that daily become casualties of that war. To see the enemy as any less than the most cunning, evil, and knowledgeable enemy that mankind will ever know is a grossly ignorant perspective to maintain. Especially when we feel the fear and pulse of the prince of darkness' cancer waiting to infringe on every single moment of every single day in our lives, our minds, homes, and hearts.

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Proof of the prince's efforts to steal life:

Most days, I fight some sort of battle with fear. Fears of all kinds - fears about my worth, my abilities, my capacity to become better than what i am, my safety, my purpose... etc. Every day, I fight temptations - temptations of idleness, of distraction, of gluttony, of covetousness, and idolatry (to name a few). Then, there is the constant effort to kill off and surrender my pride. Even while I sleep, my mind is sometimes infected with haunting dreams that find me waking up with doubts. The TV and the advertisements enforce the feeling of grit, of captivity, of incompleteness. When I read about the national debt and the poverty and the earthquakes beyond anyone's control, I admit - it is sometimes not easy to trust with childlike faith, that He's still got the whole world in His hands.

... Without Christ, who could stand against this darkness?

But to those who are in Christ, He calls us to not be overcome by evil - and instead, to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

Hope for my life, founded in Christ:

My stubborn will can be undone, if surrendered to His own. My fears are laid to rest, when I remember His faithfulness to me. My worth is redefined, every time I read His word. My mind is renewed each time I seek to understand. Love I do not inherently possess is yet mine to receive and give. My mustard seed faith is found to be enough, if I choose to believe that what He says is true. There is nothing that can separate me from Him... I am not alone.

For this is our commission and His promise:

"... You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or sleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing... Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus... Hold onto the good. "

(1 Thessalonians 5:5-11, 16-17, 21b)

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Yes. I have an enemy... but I also have a Savior.

It seems to me that the most effective way to thwart a thief would be to hang onto the good he seeks to steal. So when we are tempted, when we are discouraged, when we begin to feel the doubt creep in, when it takes more energy to fight than what we feel we possess... we can hang onto the ultimate victory:

He has overcome.