Good morning,
How
would you feel as you walked down a sidewalk with the sky a bright
blue, the clouds a billowy white, the temperature is just right, the
breeze is gentle and an angry dog you have never seen before comes
running out from behind a parked car being held back by an angry man
holding his leash? If you were alone, how would you feel? The
situation I just mentioned is very much like what so many of the people
in the world feel today. We have known years of relative peace. Now
some bad guys holding some angry dogs have shown up. If you are alone,
what will you do? What will happen next? Would it make any difference
if you were walking with a trained and equipped dog catcher on one side
and a police officer with a gun on the other?
What I have just
described was the situation that the Apostle Paul faced as he was
writing to his friends in Ephesus. The political world was bubbling
with hate and uncertainty and both the Jews and the Gentiles around them
were determined to stamp out this religion based on a man who they said
was killed and came back to life again. Paul was alone, chained to a
soldier at all times and facing an appointment with a world leader going
out of his mind. But was he really alone? In chapter 6 he gave them a
summary of what he knew about what was going on. He told them to
remember that they were not alone. The Lord of the Church, the all
powerful God of time and eternity was with him and with them. They had
his strength as they faced the battles that swirled around them each
day. He reminded them that if they put on God’s armor they would be
able to stand firmly against the real enemies that they faced. The real
enemies that they faced weren’t the ones that they could see. Their
real enemies were the devil and the wicked angelic hosts that they
couldn’t see who were energizing the people around them. In real life,
the man and his dog were no match for the Holy dog catcher and the All
Powerful police man traveling with them. He reminded them that the
outcome of the confrontation was in God’s hands. They were not alone!
Lord, will you help us to see, like Paul, the real situation we are
facing today.
Ephesians 6:10 A final word: Be strong in
the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that
you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against
evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers
in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Roy Wisner
