I’ve been under attack the last few days… spiritual attack that is. Nothing in the ballpark of giant cannons… but enough to keep me contemplative… stuck in my head. Thereby this post cannot avoid being both autobiographical and perhaps dull!
If you remember from a couple weeks ago we have been working on sleep training Lizzie.1 Thank you all for your prayers. She went down the first night so well, and then the second, and the third…. About a week in is where she started waking up in the middle of the night in a way that really cut into our sleep patterns. All last week I was dealing with both waking up early (for my one week a month in office) and losing sleep while taking care of her. Thank GOD I only have to go in one week a month.
I was excited to finally be able to get some more sleep while working from home. I even went to bed early…..and when Lizzie woke up in the middle of the night she wouldn’t go back to sleep at all. My wife bore the brunt of that… but we were still walking around like Zombies yesterday morning. This was further complicated by running out of my ADHD meds. Daytime sleepiness is real y’all!
This is the point where I realized that something MORE than usual was happening. After we put Lizzie down I was leaning into my wife… and just expressed how tired I was and emotional….
It was either just before this or just after this I was reminded of a thought I had had earlier in the day…. We’re under attack.
I shared this with my wife and we prayed together. We prayed special protection over our sleep and the sleep of our children.
Not that the contrast happens this way every time…. But I’m happy to report that I got 8 hours and 49 minutes of sleep last night and had a wonderful mask seal (I have sleep apnea and use a machine to sleep)
Prepare for Battle!
The Bible reminds us to be prepared for spiritual warfare at all times. The most famous reference to this can be found in Ephesians 6
“Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.”
Ephesians 6:10-12 HCSB
We are urged not to battle against other humans…. But against spiritual forces of evil.
This is something we haven’t always gotten right. Even as true believers in Messiah…. We forget this sometimes and start to verbally wage battle against the people in our culture that are against the ways of God.
Paul specifically says our battle is NOT against flesh and blood.
So… how do we wage battle against spiritual forces of evil?
How do fight against something… that we can’t… even…. see?
Great question. Ephesians lays it out a little bit… and maybe at some point I’ll come back and do a full treatment of the passage… but for now…
One of the answers is Prayer!
“Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”
Ephesians 6:18-19 HCSB
Put Simply… we turn our words away from attacking what we don’t like in the natural… to asking God to change it in the supernatural.
Ok… so what do we do with flesh and blood…. When people attack us verbally or physically how are we to respond?
Love. First in action…. And when our emotions seek to wage against this… we ask God to change our hearts too.
Jesus put it like this:
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:44-45, 48 HCSB
This passage has always fascinated me…. Jesus defines perfection here… in terms of loving our enemies.
And before you accuse me of pure intellectual speculation… understand that I have in fact had enemies. Sometimes in my own household.
I was the child of the most difficult divorce to come through my own county in Northern Michigan (up until that point in time)
There have been times where I have been at odds with every single member of my family of origin…and not casually.
The pain of this is something I can’t fully convey to this day.
By the grace of God, I feel like I have moved into a better place with each of them…. There are still conflicts at times.
God is still transforming us… we have a long way to go… But He is working. And even when we have conflict I know that they are not my enemy… I’m learning to pray for them and bless them every day.
So…May you be blessed by loving those around you. Turning your warfare to your true enemies… praying that God brings life, blesses your enemies, and brings reconciliation. May you forgive those who wrong you…. And ask God for forgiveness… so that you may dwell in everlasting Joy!
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