Taking The Hits
“But his own people have been robbed and plundered, enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped. They are fair game for anyone and have no one to protect them, no one to take them back home.” Isa 42:22NLT
When we’re born again, we all start out on a very broad field at the foot of the cross. Salvation removes us from satan’s kingdom— lost to him. Life’s game changes completely in satan’s rule book. He’s no longer able to keep us from heaven, but….. he can try his best to keep us ineffective, and out of God’s perfect will for our lives.
Hence, we become targets! In our walks with the Lord, we’ve taken the hits— literally our home was robbed twice. God asked us to forgive the thieves. Louis was to the cleaners by cheating employers, loosing thousands. He suffered unable to do anything, in Gen 31:7NIV: “…has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me.” But like Jacob, he won because God has been our Helper and Support. These incidents were all warfare— taking the hits from satan.
Since I began writing devotionals, I’ve been under one physical attack after another. What I write to you, I’m practicing in real life.
Our Indiana preacher played a game Sunday morning with about fifteen of the congregation. The back of the church represented the place for newly saved people. There were six spaces down the aisle between the pulpit and the back door. Each space represented a level of salvation each person could come to in their walk with Jesus. The point of the game was to get to level seven, and stay there— God’s perfect will— without taking hits. Meanwhile the preacher was shooting off nerf bullets, as he represented satan. If a person took a hit, they had to go backwards one place. All those in the congregation represented the world.
Some rushed to the front to be hit over and over and end up going back to being only saved, where the bullets couldn’t hit. Others hid behind the larger people to avoid taking hits. One kept his feet on the fourth level, but his body was hiding behind the chairs; having some of Jesus but keeping close touch in the world.
As the congregation watched they were laughing and heckling the ones who’d chosen to participate. Suddenly, I realized this is an exact picture of the church. We didn’t need the world picking on the body of Christ. The church participates very well in judging other believers who aren’t just like them. God made us all unique in looks, and personalities, although there are many similarities. Yet we want to pound each other into a mold exactly like us. Why?
Watching this single sermon brought about a tremendous paradigm shift in Lou and I’s thinking. Issues were resolved in a moment, as we realized— the issues weren’t coming from people but from satan using people. To engage in the issues placed us as judgmental hecklers inside the church. Not a good place!
Can you visualize what I’ve said? Does it make sense? Isn’t it better to pray for all other Christians around us? The last phrase of our text hit me in the face this morning— “have no one to protect them, no one to take them back home.” We can’t take hits for others, but we can pray for their faith to endure. Thus, scripturally protecting and taking them home. Will you pray or judge and heckle? It’s your choice. You choose.
PRAYER: Father God thank You a million times over for opening my eyes to seeing this warfare we’re in. Help everyone reading this to see as well and have a paradigm shift in their thinking, in Jesus’ name I pray.
by Debbie Veilleux Copyright 2017 You have my permission to reblog this devotional for others. Please keep my name with this devotional as author. Thank you.
