Beyond Ourselves: Dale Showalter
The Battle Is On!I get into a mindset that if I follow hard after God and seek Him earnestly, then life will go smoothly. Where do I get that from, because it's not in my Bible anywhere? He promises to be with me, but the norm seems to be trials and tribulations.
I was reading in Jeremiah and the title, "Lord of Heaven's Armies" kept coming up. I did a search of that exact phrase and it came up 249 times! Wow, that must mean there is a war going on! Maybe that is why Paul in Ephesians 6 tells us to put on our armor. He also said, "…we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." That's funny, I'm pretty sure was I fighting with my spouse!
Therein lies the problem: We blame what we can see, for things going on that we cannot see. I believe that Satan is trying desperately to deceive and distract us. We are being led to follow Christ in Wheaton and Warrenville by leaving our comfortable Wheaton "home" and reaching out to Warrenville, making it uncomfortable in both places. We are being asked to actually give up things for Kingdom values, and the enemy doesn't like it at all.
Speaking personally, I have never been under attack so much in my life. As leaders in the Stewardship campaign, Kim and I started praying about our participation in August. Shortly thereafter we learned that our 31 year old daughter had cancer, investments that we had made a year ago with the campaign in mind went terribly wrong, and some customers in my business threaten not to pay, not because of our work, but because they choose not to. In my journal on October 5th, I listed over 10 things that went wrong that day.
In the midst of all this we keep seeking God for His direction regarding what He wants us to give. And a break in the enemy lines came on Monday; I think we are hearing how he wants us to give. Though a few skirmishes are still ongoing, there is peace, and a burden lifted just in hearing His voice- we will share that with you soon.
Immediately following Paul's instruction to put on the armor of God, he instructs us to "pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion." Praying has become like breathing to us recently, for we cannot handle this on our own. We don't want the enemy to win, and we can't defeat him on our own. Please, put on your armor and come fight with us. Let's join the Lord of Heaven's Armies and watch what He will do as He builds His Church among us!