When you look at the world around us, either on television or the internet, things seem dark. Then, when we look at our own frail local economy, pay checks or lack thereof, health concerns, family issues that have not gone as planned–it seems really dark–the dark that you cannot see your hand in front of your face kind of dark.
But Jesus. The light came into the world through Jesus Christ and the darkness did not understand the light. (John 1:5). Darkness is confused by light, light is never confused by darkness. Stuff happens. Good stuff and bad stuff happens and we, as children of light, get to make a choice and calculate our response, rather than react emotionally to what we see. The opposite of faith, is sight and what we see may often not reflect the truth of God over our lives and the situations we face. Situations change, but He never changes!
So, how should we respond to increasing darkness?
Occasionally, I get to fly around the country and like many of my fellow passengers, I’ve grown very accustomed to the flight safety demonstrations. However, when I have paid attention, the demo on the oxygen masks is very interesting; “should the unlikely event occur that you find yourself unable to breath life giving air, this little thing will come from above and sustain your life! (she says while smiling) The part I find interesting is this, they always tell you to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, so you can then help others, even your own children. As the theory goes, if you’re passed out from oxygen deprivation, how can you possibly help those you love or anyone else for that matter?
Good point.
Life is very much like that flight demonstration. Heaven forbid we should find ourselves in actual economic, financial, emotional or any other kind of turbulence that begins to suck the oxygen from our lungs. As we grasp for air what do we do? We reach up and take the mask with the life sustaining tube that connects to the source of all life and we breath deep.
Bill Johnson in his book, “Strengthening Yourself in the Lord”, makes a very good point in that one of the reasons the church is not as effective in advancing the Kingdom of God on earth today is that believers have not learned to ‘strengthen themselves in the Lord’. He goes on to tell one of my favorite stories about David and his mighty men; having been rejected by everyone, they return to Ziklag to find that the enemy has stolen everything–wives, kids, livestock–all possessions–gone. Now, even David’s mighty men, his best friends, turned on him and were picking up the stones to end his dream filled life. David’s men were ready to do their part and cancel out the word of God spoken over David since he was a boy; they were about to rob him of his destiny–the enemy had come to steal, kill and destroy promises over this man’s life. In stealing a man’s promises and destiny, the enemy robs the world of the gifts that were meant to bless God and others. The Psalms that bring us so much comfort today may never have been written and Israel would have never seen the greatest king to every preside over their people if David didn’t survive the most painful and dark challenge to date…but he had a plan and he was prepared with a response.
What is David’s response to his darkest hour?
The bible says that David ‘strengthened himself in the Lord’. He didn’t welcome the stones to remove the pain, he turned to The source of life giving oxygen and strengthened himself in the Lord. The joy of the Lord was his strength and it is available for us as well if we will yield to him and reject the floundering fear that reaches out to steal, kill and destroy everything. The oxygen mask is already hanging down right in front of us; His name is Jesus and He is life–He is our breath of life.
My personal belief is that this message is on the heart of our Father for this very hour. My friend Stan gave a very good talk last night about how to strengthen yourself in the Lord. He said you can either die to your troubles or die from them. He, like many of us, have been struggling in this economy for more years that we ever thought we would, yet others we know have bigger struggles…ah, but Jesus. Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings–everything must bow to the name of Jesus, everything. Struggle, fear, panic, confusion, desperation, discouragement, loss–all are names that must bow on bended knee.
We are called to reach cities and nations for Christ, teaching them to obey everything taught by Christ. How can we put oxygen masks on a city, if we don’t first put it on ourselves–gaining life sustaining breath, perspective and strength.
Through faith they conquered kingdoms, did what God approved, and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, and escaped death. They found strength when they were weak. They were powerful in battle and defeated other armies. Heb. 11:33-34
Don’t give up. He has a way for all these things you need to be accomplished. We serve the God who specializes in things others say is ‘impossible’. Put your faith in him and “Don’t ever give up!”
Blessings, peace and abundant joy,
John Moran
