"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one...As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world."  That was Jesus' prayer to God the Father in John 17 - well worth revisiting the entire chapter as we acknowledge the reality of the enemy's assault on the life we are each called to live.

Nearly a month removed from our time set apart: how does Satan's assault look in your life?  Take a moment to recall the enemy's strategies as Gary relayed them to us in our fourth session titled "Assault."  Have you heard whispers such as these?  Are you fighting not to believe in similar lies?

Deadening. We are wounded...damage has been visited upon us through our life; damage that short-circuit's God's calling for us.  The enemy is quick to conjure up our wounds as he seeks to keep us from living in the freedom Christ has to offer.

Diminishment. If I were really significant I would hold a position of significance...with a bigger paycheck; a better title.  If my story really mattered it would be more dramatic, more compelling...like <fill in the blank>'s story.

Disdain. You cannot live into this life God promises...it is for other men.  You've tried this before...and failed.

Disqualification. I've blown it, even this week...even today.  It's too late for me.  I'm lost.

Amazing, isn't it, how easy it is to fall under the influence of the enemy’s lies?  Even when we pause to see and interpret the enemy's assault...we are still vulnerable.  Yet our failings and our doubt are fully redeemed by the Lord through Christ: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)   We so easily go to the altar with our “surface” sinful actions; failings that really point so much deeper to the roots of our brokenness...to the lies that we have allowed to define us.  Why is it so hard to go to the Lord with more authenticity…to give Him access to ALL of our heart?  Our loving Father wants us to admit our failings of disbelief...of disqualification...the true fears of our heart and the underlying lie that we've stumbled too much and are, ultimately, irredeemable.  Then He can reveal the truth to each of us in an intimate way and deliver on His promise in Isaiah 61 to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free.

"The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)

IRREVOCABLE!

Your gifts.  Your calling.  The glory you are called to fulfill in Christ...to God's glory!  Pure and redeemed by our Lord.

But it is hard to believe in the face of the assault.  Hard to stand fast, shoulder to shoulder.  Yet here we are: 96 men who threw in their lots together for one weekend at Wintergreen, now drawn along the front line with resolve and faith that our strength is not our own. 

Difficult questions we are wrestling with this week:

1)  With this idea of God's calling revealed, what am I to do with my daily struggles?  Not just failings or temptations - distractions - but the recognition that I'm still fighting not to be consumed by a smaller life than I'm called to live.  How do I approach this Life that's offered in the midst of my to-do list, my calendar...my obligations?  How do I remember?

2) How have I been diminished... disdained... disqualified throughout my life?  This week?  Today?  How can I gain strength by recognizing the attack?

3) This "deadening" idea...the burden of old wounds.  Lord, what does real healing look like? What does it look like for me to give you permission to take me on a journey towards restoration?

As we each struggle with the realities of the assault on our lives, we look forward with hope.  This is a journey, not a destination.  The next session is about discovery: that there is more to discover and we are being trained up through our circumstance.  Our stories carry weight - the wounds and the baggage matter - and the Lord desires to see us healed.  But our wounds do not define us. And how we have sinned in the mishandling of our wounds is not the final verdict on our lives.

Stand fast - you are not alone.


With a grateful heart,


The Piercing the Veil Team

 


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