Who's the Enemy?*

Playbees Plastic Army Men Figures

 Playing “army” as a kid with a couple of friends in the woods behind my house, we were all warring against the “enemy” well when somehow there was a disagreement between us and the overtired child warriors turned on each other. One friend became more angry and decided to walk home. This was a relatively safe neighborhood walk through the woods aside from a few dogs over protective of their turf. But if my friend chose the winding road, it had a couple of blind curves with no sidewalk. Teenage drivers had crashed a few times driving too fast; including two brothers who hit head on, one on a motorcycle and one in a car. The crash was horrendous, causing the motorcycle rider to almost lose his leg and the other brother was left with regret and sadness that he had crippled his brother. We didn’t know if my friend had walked through the woods or on the road, so we tried to search for him through the woods, but to no avail. We finally circled back home and told my mother and she panicked, she had “lost the neighbor's kid!” We all jumped in the car and drove the road very slowly, looking for my friend. We didn’t see him anywhere. We went to his house and he was not there, so the search continued. We went back to our house, wondering if maybe he had returned there. This was many years before cell phones, but when we walked back in our house, the phone rang. It was another neighbor saying my friend was with her, playing with her dog, and having a cookie. Now that wasn’t fair. We were in a panic looking for him and he was enjoying petting a canine and eating a cookie! Oh well, all was forgotten and we all played again the next week, with an understanding that if anyone wants to go home, my mother would happily drive them. 

There were rough times in the early church. The fledgeling congregations were being attacked by the Evil One who didn’t want them to succeed. God had chosen the church to be the primary instrument He would use to connect those who belonged to him, to lead people to salvation and help people mature in Christ. Unfortunately, sometimes the church members became upset with each other and forgot who the real enemy was. Paul reminds the church at Ephesus, “ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:10–12)  So the next time you are out of sorts with a friend or family member or even someone in your community who has wronged you, remember they are not the “enemy.” When our mind goes into “enemy mode,” our relational circuits shut down and we forget who we are really in battle with. We mistakenly use our energies to take down those who are not our true enemy, the Devil and this leads to all kinds of turmoil, trauma, and regret. (see the book Escaping Enemy Mode by Jim Wilder)

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

YOLO, Really?*

The last time I snow skied was at Snowbird ski resort. My in-laws would be moving from Sandy, UT and my kids were all preschool aged, so raising these little ones would trump many of the activities that we used to do. Great skiing would no longer be a 45 minute drive from Anita’s parents. Anita and I had skied in Utah several times while her parents lived there for 8 years. The Utah mountains are beautiful and they claim to have the “Greatest Snow on Earth,” because it is a dry powdery snow from the high desert. Growing up in the South, skiing in the Carolina mountains, the slopes were most often icy and very hard packed. I didn’t know if this would for sure be my last ski experience in Utah for a while, but since I knew it could be, I wanted to milk it for all it was worth. Anita and her parents took the kids shopping and sent me to the slopes for a day of skiing. I bought the Tram pass so I could enjoy skiing the entire mountain for the full 9 am - 4 pm ski day.  At the top of the Tram lift were some slopes that challenged my skill level, but with some slow and careful skiing, I could get down to a slope that allowed me to ski on an easy blue slope for 2.5 miles of carving back to the bottom of the mountain.  One run, including waiting in line for the Tram, to the 13 minute ride up, to skiing down took over an hour.  I was able to ride up and ski a couple of times before eating lunch and had finished another run after lunch. This was more than seven and a half miles of skiing for someone who only skied once a year, so I was a little tired. I had really enjoyed my day of solitude in a winter wonderland. The Tram closed at 3:45 pm in order to get everyone off the mountain before sunset, which happens at about 4:30 pm. It was 3:30, my muscles were fatigued, but knowing this could be my last time to ski Salt Lake for a while, I wanted one more run.  I hopped on the Tram, shouting in my head “Carpe diem!” At the top, I started my slow and careful descent on the black diamond down to the easier blue slope, but my legs were rubbery and didn’t want to do what my brain was telling them.  About half way down that challenging top part of the mountain, the Ski Patrol was frantically working to get a guy about my age who had broken his femur down the mountain before dark.  I saw his leg in an awkward and unnatural position and knew it takes a significant force to break that bone, so my legs became even more wibbly.  I rested there for a moment, but as I rested I realized that it was getting dark quickly.  I was caught between going fast enough to make it down before dark and going slow enough not to break my femur skiing on my exhausted legs!  I did make it down successfully and drove to Anita’s parents in the dark, realizing God’s grace in spite of my lack of wisdom in evaluating the situation. 

 

Apparently, those in the early church in Ephesus had forgotten how to behave and were acting like they used to before they belonged to Jesus. They were “seizing the day,” but doing it foolishly. Some people today say, “YOLO,” meaning “you only live once,” so live it up now. Paul was reminding God’s people that it matters how we choose to spend our time as Jesus’s people.  He says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”(Ephesians 5:15–17 ESV) The words for “look carefully how you walk,” in the King James version is “Walk circumspectly,” meaning look around you with redeemed eyes, being aware of your circumstances and how you are living your life.  So, let’s walk (or ski) circumspectly, seizing the day in a good way, not testing God’s grace but doing good. 

 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!