How many of you have seen the movie, 300? Spectacular, ain't it? Breathless. Amazing. Superb. I probably need a thesaurus to exhaust the adjectives usable in praise of the movie. In that movie, we saw the bravery and valor of only 300 men against the millions of soldiers they fought. They were unrelenting, indomitable, indefatigable - where is that thesaurus! Anyway. The point I am trying to make is that, with only three hundred men, the Spartan King wrestled against the forces of an entire empire, one that stretched from Asia to North Africa, and held his own for days. Simply incredible. Similarly, in the Book of Judges, Chapter 7, we encounter Gideon. The Lord chose him to wage war against an enemy of Israel at the time, Midian. At first, Gideon was afraid. He did not think he had it in him to fight the Midianites. But God urged him on, and so Gideon gathered very many soldiers and prepared to march against the enemy.
However, the Lord had a complaint. He told Gideon that the warrior had too many men. He let Gideon know that, if he went into battle with thousands of men, people would assume that Gideon and his men won because they were many. Rather, the Lord wanted everyone to know that, if Gideon and his men won, it would be only because the Lord helped them. And so, the Lord instructed Gideon to reduce the number of his men to exactly 300. Neat, ain't it? And that is precisely what Gideon did. He limited the number of his soldiers to a mere 300, and they marched off to fight the Midianites. The bible describes the number of soldiers in the camp of Midian as too many to be counted. Just like in the case with the Persian army, the one the Spartan King with only 300 men stood up against in the movie we talked about earlier. But Gideon trusted in the Lord. Gideon relied on the power of God and, encouraged by divine providence, he eventually triumphed over the Midianites. He won the battle! And Gideon glorified the Lord, his God.
We have devoted the last few posts to talking about our war with negative emotions. We are also going to devote the next few ones to talking about the same issue. Our war with negative emotions is more important than you can ever imagine. And there is much more to talk about in this regard. Today, in any case, we will focus on the fact that it is God that fights for us. Jesus Christ, the Lord, says in this regard: "apart from me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5b). Also, Paul says: "I can do all things, but only through Christ that gives me the strength" (Phil. 4:13). In our battle against negative emotions, we rely on the power of God, who alone can give us the victory. We cannot do it on our own. Do you recall the case in the bible of the sons of Sceva that tried to cast out evil spirits, relying on their own power? They said to the evil spirits, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims," not whom we proclaim. They did not acknowledge the faith Paul had. To them, casting out evil spirits was some form of science experiment, a mere intellectual exercise. The evil spirits replied to them, "Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you?" And the evil spirits disgraced them on that day. The evil spirits so overpowered them that the sons of Sceva ran home naked and wounded.
The evil spirits, the bearers of negative emotions, are not cartoon characters - they are real, and they are serious. In fighting against them, we need to be covered from head to foot with the power of Jesus. Paul says in this regard: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to endure. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people" (Eph. 6:10-18).
Paul recognized that our battle against negative emotions is a serious battle, and so he recommended putting on a full armor, complete with sword and belt and helmet and everything. But what did he say toward the end? He exhorted us to shield ourselves with faith, with reliance on God. We cannot fight the negative emotions that plague us without faith. No senor! Remember when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt and Pharaoh's army were chasing them all the way to the brink of the Red Sea? Do you recall what happened that day? The Lord commanded Moses to divide the sea in two and, when he had done this, the Lord commanded him to make the Israelites walk on the dry ground going right through the center of the ocean. And - wait for it; this is actually my favorite two verses in all the book of Exodus - "Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still'" (Ex. 14:13-14).
Just think about that: "The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again" (Ibid.v13b). Now you see, now you don't - just like magic. Wow! Impressive, incredible, awesome - hello, thesaurus! The Egyptians you see today - all the pesky emotions that worry you: anger, hate, greed, envy, gluttony, lust, licentiousness, biliousness - all those pesky emotions - you will never see again. Alleluia! Just like that. Instantly. Zuptalo! God is good. God will help us in the battle against negative emotions, and we shall vanquish them all with his help. He will inspire our application of the concept of sacrifices. He will inspire our application of Descartes' method, and he will inspire our prayers; and we will succeed against negative emotions, by his help and his power. Amen, somebody! Indeed the Lord is good, and all the time! The Egyptians you see today! (Ibid.) Those pesky emotions, the enemies of God; the enemies of Heaven; the enemies of our peace and happiness - all the negative emotions that make us uncomfortable and steal away our peace and joy. By the power of God, we will never ever see them, or have to deal with them ever again. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment