Letting Your Guard Down

To be honest, I am often not as aware of the spiritual world as I should be.

Let't clarify what I mean by spiritual world: the metaphysical battle of angels and demons that occurs out of human sight. 

I'm aware of my sin- I experience it and it's consequences every day. But I don't pay attention to the spiritual world- the one that really matters. My first reaction is to say I don't experience it every day, but maybe that is a warning sign. Maybe I don't recognize what is part of the battle around me. 

That's where the title comes in. 

Imagine you have a castle to defend. Your enemies attack the front gate relentlessly, but you don't back down. Victory is certain, if you just keep the enemy from getting inside the castle. But something is wrong- men in strange armor are attacking from inside the walls! Your men are quickly overpowered and the battle seems completely lost. 

(Don't worry- you won't lose though!)

Letting your guard down is what loses the battle- it's when we assume that we have control. 

If I focus all of my strength on one temptation I have, and fail to pay attention to knew weaknesses creeping in, the devil get's a free foothold. A free way in to whisper lies.

(Not cool)

There are two ways to deal with this information: 

                                1) The way of the Flesh: This means I must aways pay attention to every area, I must never stop to rest because I might believe lies, I must always be fighting, always be casting down my enemy! 

Don't you hear the weariness in this relentless list of "must do's"? Even though I might think I'm actively fighting the devil, really I'm giving him a greater opportunity to creep in by keeping a close-fisted grip on control. 

This leads to the second way. 

                               2)The way of God: God is fighting for me- this doesn't mean I need to stop fighting, but I need to trust that God can handle this. I will be vigilant, not because I must but because I see the value of it! My desire is to please God, to seek after him, and in this act of worship the awareness of the spiritual world is learned. 

Bottom line for this post: 

Give God the control- true worship of him is what truly matters, he will give you what you need.

I have to go make dinner before life group- otherwise this would be longer… anyway, I'm praying for you all this week!

~Avery