We Have an Enemy & We Have a King
So here’s some bad news and some good news. Bad news first, since that’s normally how it goes…
A common theme I’m seeing in others as well as my own life is that we all seem to be living bound up in one way or another. For some of us it is very obvious… we can see and feel the weight of oppression in our lives… anxiety, depression, difficult relationships, crippling doubt or fear. But for others, it’s not so obvious. We think we’re doing pretty dang good most days, but underneath we are exhausted, distracted, isolated from others with our pain. And here’s the bad news in short… we have an enemy. And. he. hates. us.
I’m not one to over-spiritualize… I don’t think we should over-emphasize the enemy’s tricks every time we trip or don’t get that parking spot we were hoping for. You might get some weird looks if you shout, “Damn you satan!” every time you stub your toe. But I do believe that he’s lurking, looking for ways to kill us at worst and keep us distracted at best. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
He wants to keep us afraid. He wants to keep us anxious. He wants to keep us doubting. He wants to keep us distracted. He wants to keep us thinking we are in control. He wants to allure us into believing that God isn’t enough for us or that we need a plan B just in case He doesn’t come through. Like how pretty much all of the Israelites and kings in the Old Testament worshipped God but also worshipped pagan gods too… you know, just in case. Even King Solomon in all of his wisdom and splendor, the one chosen to build the temple, also worshipped other gods at the high places. It became engrained in their culture to worship God and also pagan gods…
We read about this and think" “how could those idiots have done such an evil thing after all God did for them?” They physically experienced being brought out of Egypt after 400 years of slavery, walked through the parted Red Sea, ate food that fell from the sky and drank water that came out of a rock. Yet when Moses went up to the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments, he came back down to find the Israelites worshipping a god they had made out of their melted-down earrings! Moses had taken too long, and the people had convinced Aaron, their leader, to do this for them. That is mind-boggling to me. All the little decisions and physical tasks you would have to make before getting to the point of actually worshipping a pagan god…. “ok let’s collect everyone’s gold jewelry, melt it down, pick a form… let’s go with a cow, then let’s collect real cows, sacrifice them, build an altar…” That’s a lot of steps. A lot of opportunities to turn around and say “Nah, let’s wait for Moses and not do this evil thing.”
But maybe we do the same thing all the time. Maybe we need to pay attention to all the little ways we are building altars, melting down our jewelry, making things into idols that shouldn’t be. St. Augustine says, “the essence of sin is disordered loves.” We can take GOOD things, things that are gifts from God, and make them into idols when they are not in their proper order. . . and when we do this either we kill this good thing or it kills us eventually. Classic examples of this are parent-child relationships and marriage… if you are looking to your child or spouse (or any important relationship) to fill a need that only God is meant to fill or to give you identity that only God is meant to give, it puts a strain on the relationship. I have an amazing husband, but if I expect him to fulfill my every need, fix my every problem, and understand the deepest parts of myself that I don’t even understand, then I end up frustrated or bitter.
But here’s the good news…
We have a King who is too merciful to let us love His gifts more than the Giver of those gifts. Like a good father, He does not let us succeed in ways that will harm us if we hold them too high. We were made to worship God, to trust Him above all else, and to enjoy relationship with Him. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This means that the good gifts, the things we are so tempted to put before God, become even better when they are in their proper place. That’s the bad and good news of the gospel…. it says “Come and die,” but also that you will have abundant life.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. - John 10:10