Spiritual Warfare

Do you believe in spiritual warfare?  Like in kind in This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti?  I do.  And I believe that if you are not already experiencing it, you will because of your involvement in REVEAL.

I also believe that Satan knows the areas in our lives where we are weakest.  Those areas that we try and hide from other people and protect in our own strength by not letting others in.  It is in these very areas where Satan loves to attack because he knows that we are the most vulnerable there.

Well, if I may be completely honest (and vulnerable) with you...one of those areas for me is "being good enough".  Now this may manifest in many different areas.  In school, it was with grades.  When I got married, it was (and still is) being a good husband.  But now I have a new focus: Am I a good enough (effective enough) worship leader, worship planner and minister in general.

Those of you who have been reading the blog know that I work part-time at Home Depot from 4AM to 8AM and that because of the early hours sleep is at a premium for me.  And of course that is exactly where Satan has chosen to attack me.  For the past several nights, I have been having very vivid nightmares about failure in my position of worship leader/planner/minister.  It has made getting a good night's sleep impossible because I am waking up every hour or so.

Make no mistake.  Satan does not want REVEAL to succeed.  He has worked hard to make the de-churched group cynical, hard, and callous towards "any" church experience.  He is attacking me here because he knows that if I am constantly worried about what "I am doing" or what "people think" then I am not focusing on what "God is doing" or what "God thinks".

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus:

"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 stand." (Ephesians 6:10-13)

A couple of things that you can do. (1) Spend time with God and allow Him to sure up those areas.  (2) Get an accountability partner. (3) Pray like crazy for each other, REVEAL, and First Baptist in general.

But take courage in this, if REVEAL was not going to become anything...Satan would not need to attack us.

--Will