Wednesday's Word

What if…

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. “ Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and Trench Classes United. Grab your favorite beverage, your Strand of Faith and let’s go tie some knots in our faith as we ponder this scripture along with this phrase, “what if…”

There is so much life going on…and so many not-so-positive reactions to the waves of tragedy, challenges and circumstances happening all around us. But what I think makes life even more uncertain for us is when something is happening within our inner circle of life, meaning our own homes, and/or the homes of those closest to us. A couple of weeks ago, an author acquaintance of mine lost her little three-year-old son and for days she’s been posting her pain, and I mean each post is so vividly real that you can feel her pain…so much so that it’s hard to not get overwhelmed by the waves of it and go under.

In a deposition the other day, I was overwhelmed with sorrow for this young man who had to confess his many felonies, spending much of his life on the streets or in prison. I was able to not focus on the things he’d done that landed him in jail but instead on what led him to do all that he did that ripped him off and stole so much from him. 

And just this past week, someone whom I long to be close to did something that was tantamount to inserting a knife into my heart and turning it a few times and her attempt to cover it up only pulled it out and left me bleeding emotionally. But the Great Physician, in His sovereign ways rushed to my aid and whispered these words to me, using them as salve to my soul, opening up the eyes of my wounded heart to the truth that just as there is a Sovereign, loving God, there’s our enemy, walking around stealthily, or even not so sneakily, seeking to distract, deceive and divide. 

And then I heard this reminder in the form of a question: What if that’s the best she could do? 

Wow, as I picked myself up off His operating table, my heart once again intact, I was humbled, not quite healed, but humbled at the thought. What if…we were to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and realize that they are doing the very best that they can? What if we separated their actions from their soul and looked at those hurtful actions as empowered by the enemy, meant to distract us, deceive us and divide us? Would our battle plan change? Would we leave the battle or fall to our knees that we would rise, and take the high road when they take the low one? 

Oh, to see that our battle is not against those who hurt us, but the one who means to distract, deceive and divide us from Him and those we love.

Encouraged in the journey

Evinda