Occupied!
Photo image courtesy Pixabay
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.”
– 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)
Spiritual warfare is so easy to see in other cultures. When a traditional religious leader threatens a missionary with grave harm should he continue to preach, and then a scorpion shows up in the missionary’s shirt, we recognize spiritual warfare. When the missionary squashes the scorpion and the village’s sacred tree shatters from top to bottom, we recognize spiritual victory.
It’s harder to see the battles that face us daily, as we live in our pretty houses and enjoy our happy families and rewarding jobs. We, too, are surrounded by dark occupying forces.
We know that Jesus rescued us “out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9, NLT). But even as He’s led us out of that dark kingdom, we live on a frontier where dark spiritual drones buzz by and drop their bombs into our lives daily. Plus, it’s hard to get used to light as bright as what Jesus brings. We squint and blink. We see bright spots, but they’re next to even brighter spots and we can’t distinguish anything, it’s all too brilliant! We stumble as we try to find our way in the light. We feel for a walking stick to help us balance, but we can’t easily tell whether the rod we’ve found is one taken from His vine and fig tree or one ripped from a shrub of poisonous thorns.
But God reminds us that His kingdom, His way of running things, is “at hand” (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7; Mark 1:15 (NKJV). That could mean it’s so close it will soon arrive. I like to think it also means that God’s way of life is as close as the tools I keep “at hand”: spatulas and knives within reach of my stove; hammer and screwdrivers next to the boxes of fasteners. These are the tools I can grab without looking and use regularly.
God has likewise put His tools “at hand.” When I reach for spiritual help, I need to choose a weapon that God has provided. Every time I grab a tool from the enemy’s armory, I am giving ground to the occupier.
We live in a world occupied and embattled by evil, and we also live under the rule of the conquering One who has already won the victory. We can only gain ground in this spiritual battle as we choose to live by God’s ways. His kingdom and all the tools for its defense are “at hand.” It’s only when we choose His own devices that our warfare will spread the beautiful aroma of His kingdom.
Questions for Reflection:
1. What are the tools of spiritual warfare that you keep “at hand”? Consider such things as repentance, forgiveness, prayer, Scripture. Which do you use most often? Which will you use today?
2. What are the “weapons of war” that you keep at hand even though you know they’re not from God? Consider such things as anger, gossip, slander, and cancellation. Which do you use most often? Which can you put away today?
