July 9 - Underestimating the enemy
Scripture focus: So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them--the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes! Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either--women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men--all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it--emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches. Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care--worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best! Romans 1:24-32 (The Message)
I wonder if you, like me, have under-estimated our enemy.
Once I made the decision to trust God with my life, I soon felt defeated by my own inability to live the life God desired for me. This filled me with shame, blame and condemnation. Soon I discovered that my new, God-pursuing life was as frustrating as my previous godless existence. I blamed myself and others.
Finally, someone helped me understand that this propensity to invent new ways to wreck my life was not all my fault -- even though I had a lot that I needed to accept personal responsibility for. As I learned that betrayal, sin, shame, crisis and trauma wears down our God-created selves, I was able to relax the self-recriminations and allow God to heal me.
Rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing is toxic to the human spirit.
For today, I want you to consider the possibility that your own exposure to evil has confused your mind and heart -- leaving you vulnerable to sin and shame. I wonder if you'd do me a great favor, and decide -- just for today -- to suspend judgment of yourself and others. Instead, replace the time you spend on envy, bickering and cheating on getting to know God. Design a system that reminds you to acknowledge him multiple times daily. That's all -- simply acknowledge him. Suspend expectations and just do it -- get to know God. At a minimum, it will reduce the piling on of sin and shame. Ultimately, I believe it will free us to live the abundant life Jesus promised us.
Recommended reading: Psalm 69-71
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