Fiery darts
2 Timothy 4:5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (ESV)
The past couple days have been a whirlwind. God laid before me a huge act of obedience, a step of faith, a test for me. I have learned obedience from my best friend, whom now I call my adopted big brother. God places these tests of faith before us, to see where our heart lies with Him. He knows how we will respond, but it really is for our benefit, growth, and understanding of how He works in our lives. Each step requires that act of obedience, that is where the faith lies. Going out into the unknown is where Jesus is. Going out where we can’t accomplish it on our own. Satan leaps at these opportunities to draw us down the paths of sin, and provides all the distractions imaginable to turn us away from God. Yesterday brought attacks at multiple elevated levels that I was not prepared for. As the day wore on, the attacks grew. Stress has entered into the arena, the battle is on.
I thought of seemingly some of Paul’s last words to Timothy here. Paul knows he is about to die for his faith at the hands of the Roman government. His letter to Timothy is to present to Timothy what he must endure; to encourage him for his ministry, and the focus of his life as a minister of the faith. Paul pours his heart out in 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (ESV)
The war of good and evil is fought on a plain we cannot see. It is fought in the heavenly places; it is fought in our minds; and it is many times presented in situations that come before us. The circumstances that God allows; they either draw us closer to him, or take our eyes off him. You must come to the point in all of them, that you see God in all of them. The strains of life that Satan means for evil, God’s Sovereignty can mean for good. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. These acts of obedience, when you say yes to God, know that He knows what Satan already has in store for you. When the attacks come, draw closer to Him in His Word and prayer for the strength to endure, guide, and focus on Him. He brought you to it with the power to take you through it. In all of it, He is glorified.
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