This ol' world...
OK, so back to the question is it true?? Does God give you more than you can bear? The answer to this is a resounding NO!!!
What did Jesus say? "Come to me you who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
This world most definitely gives us more than we can bear. If I was able to bear my sorrows, then why would Jesus have had to bear them for me? If I was able to bear my weaknesses then, again, why would Jesus have had to bear them for me? Again it comes to the question of the will of God, and the finished work of Jesus Christ. Does most of what happens in this ol’ world reflect the will of God? I should certainly hope not. The kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven are absolutely not the same. This world is under the rule of someone other than God. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d look up where in the Bible it says this, but, until the return of Christ, the Prince of this world is Satan. Satan’s mission is to steal, kill, and destroy.
I think we have a confusion between the sovereignty of God and the Prince of this world. At least, certainly, I have a confusion about it. Can we say, honestly, that most of what happens in this world is not the will of God? Probably, most of us can. Look at poverty, war, crime, abuse, disease, hopelessness, …. Can we say, honestly, that most of what happens to us, individually, is or is not the will of God? Can we look at our own poverty, our own personal conflicts, the crimes and abuse (and offences) against us, our own diseases, our own depression, and say it is NOT GOD’s WILL? Not if we have a theology that says ‘everything happens for a reason’. It gets a bit tricky here. We want to believe that God is sovereign, that he won’t give us more than we can bear. We don’t want to believe that anything can happen to us that is not God’s will. We want to feel safe. We don’t want to believe that the Prince of this world, the devil, can have any influence, or any power, or any ability to steal, kill, or destroy us. But then, what would be the point of all the warnings? Be on your guard, be alert, watch out for false teachers, put on the armor.
I think we are double minded in our beliefs about Satan. For instance, do we, as Christians, believe in demons? If I asked this question straight out to a cross section of people in our church, I’m sure I would get an entire range of different, and ambiguous, and indecisive answers. There would be a lot of "Well,… (long pause) yes, I suppose…., but…….." "It’s clear from the Bible that demons exist and that Jesus, the disciples, Paul, etc. all cast them out, and we’re pretty sure that in some of those "heathen countries in Africa" there are demons, BUT, here in North America, here in Linden…..?? They don’t exist here…….no, I’m sure they don’t exist here…., well, except maybe to tempt me to sin,…. But that’s all…. , I’m pretty sure that’s all…, isn’t it?" And then quick before we get spotted, quick before our fear gets a hold of us, we bury our heads in the sand.
In the Bible, it seemed that everyone knew who was demon possessed (we hate that word, we try to find ways around that word, we use words like oppressed, afflicted, influenced, attacked…). They brought their sick and their demon possessed to Jesus to be healed (actually to be SOZO’ed, remember that word?) Also to the disciples, and to Paul, etc. Now, it seems, we have no idea who they are, or even IF they are… do we have any demon possessed? We know who the sick are, but we have doctors for that…..
I remember the time I read in Corinthians (again, too lazy to look it up) that "we are not unaware of the devil’s schemes" and I said in my mind "I am absolutely unaware of the devil’s schemes!!" To be unaware is to be vulnerable. I think one of the schemes is to keep us unaware. One of the schemes is to give new, scientific names to his work, or to disguise it as someone else’s work, or to say it’s just ‘part of life, part of living in a fallen world!’ That way he doesn’t really get the blame for it. It’s ambiguous, it’s hopeless, it’s defenseless.
One of the reasons we remain unaware is because we are also unaware of the authority we have to overcome, defend against, and defeat the works of the devil. We don’t want to learn or know about the authority because, in order to learn about it, we first need to acknowledge our need for it, and to acknowledge it - is scary. I’d rather pretend the big scary lion isn’t there, than look it in the face and tell it to leave, because, whatif… it doesn’t. Now I’ve stood up, it’s seen me, it knows I’m here (which it knew perfectly well all along) and I’ve provoked it (even though I’m not entirely sure it even exists, cause I sure wish it didn’t exist, and I hope that my wishing would make it not exist). What I do not see and recognize, because I am unaware, is that right behind me, actually right IN me, is Jesus Christ, with all the authority of heaven, seated at the right hand of God, far above all power, and rule, and authority. HE is IN me! He has GIVEN me authority. The devil, of course, knows this, and therefore conceals his identity behind much less sinister labels. When be begin to think of accusing him of being behind something, he flat out denies it, and because is the author of truth (NOT!!!) we believe him!! He is the author of lies; OF COURSE he denies it!
One day I was praying for a person who lives (or has lived) in the "Dark tunnel" of depression. I believe in my Spirit that the depression was demonic and I began praying in that respect. I prayed the scripture about Jesus being the light of the world, about being rescued out of the kingdom of darkness, about hope, about abundant life. In the name of Jesus I spoke to the demon on this persons behalf and commanded it to leave. Then I waited while someone else prayed. While I waited I could ‘hear’ (in a spiritual way) very loudly and very clearly, the devil yelling to the person being prayed for that this depression was absolutely NOT from him, that he was being falsely accused and how dare she (meaning me) suggest such a thing! This depression was all chemical, and he absolutely could not be blamed for it! Then, much more subtly, and soothingly, he began to whisper that she (meaning me) simply doesn’t understand you. She (meaning me) does not understand the complexities of this condition. You thought you were safe here, but, clearly, you are not. She (meaning me) is judging you…
As far as I know, this person was not set free that day. The father of lies won this battle, for now. I am stepping out in faith when I pray like that, and maybe I mis-stepped, maybe I jumped the gun, or maybe I just declared war. I don’t know. Maybe I planted seeds for this person to think about and chew over, about the possibility of depression being NOT God’s will, but entirely someone else’s will to steal joy and light and abundance of life.
Until the return of Christ, we are in hostile territory, but we are not defenseless. We have armor, we have weapons, we have authority. Jesus said "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He also said his burden is light and his yoke is easy. He also said learn of me. Did you notice that? Maybe if it seems too hard, or too heavy, or too dark, maybe there is more to learn……. We have everything we need for abundant life and godliness through… our knowledge of him who called us… Maybe we need to learn for real what the will and the heart and the character of God is, so that when someone or some thing piles a burden on us, we do not call what is bad good and wrong right. Maybe we need to learn about the authority given us in Christ, so we don’t have to put up with, and fall for, or succumb to, the schemes of the devil.
We all know we are in a spiritual battlefield, we all know who the enemy is, but we don’t know what he looks like, or what he’s capable of. I’m not saying we should spend all our time studying the enemy, but we should know our God well enough to know when something IS or IS NOT of him. A banker knows a counterfeit not because he studies a counterfeit, but because he is so familiar with the real thing. A counterfeiter counts on the banker not paying attention.
What did Jesus say? "Come to me you who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
This world most definitely gives us more than we can bear. If I was able to bear my sorrows, then why would Jesus have had to bear them for me? If I was able to bear my weaknesses then, again, why would Jesus have had to bear them for me? Again it comes to the question of the will of God, and the finished work of Jesus Christ. Does most of what happens in this ol’ world reflect the will of God? I should certainly hope not. The kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven are absolutely not the same. This world is under the rule of someone other than God. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d look up where in the Bible it says this, but, until the return of Christ, the Prince of this world is Satan. Satan’s mission is to steal, kill, and destroy.
I think we have a confusion between the sovereignty of God and the Prince of this world. At least, certainly, I have a confusion about it. Can we say, honestly, that most of what happens in this world is not the will of God? Probably, most of us can. Look at poverty, war, crime, abuse, disease, hopelessness, …. Can we say, honestly, that most of what happens to us, individually, is or is not the will of God? Can we look at our own poverty, our own personal conflicts, the crimes and abuse (and offences) against us, our own diseases, our own depression, and say it is NOT GOD’s WILL? Not if we have a theology that says ‘everything happens for a reason’. It gets a bit tricky here. We want to believe that God is sovereign, that he won’t give us more than we can bear. We don’t want to believe that anything can happen to us that is not God’s will. We want to feel safe. We don’t want to believe that the Prince of this world, the devil, can have any influence, or any power, or any ability to steal, kill, or destroy us. But then, what would be the point of all the warnings? Be on your guard, be alert, watch out for false teachers, put on the armor.
I think we are double minded in our beliefs about Satan. For instance, do we, as Christians, believe in demons? If I asked this question straight out to a cross section of people in our church, I’m sure I would get an entire range of different, and ambiguous, and indecisive answers. There would be a lot of "Well,… (long pause) yes, I suppose…., but…….." "It’s clear from the Bible that demons exist and that Jesus, the disciples, Paul, etc. all cast them out, and we’re pretty sure that in some of those "heathen countries in Africa" there are demons, BUT, here in North America, here in Linden…..?? They don’t exist here…….no, I’m sure they don’t exist here…., well, except maybe to tempt me to sin,…. But that’s all…. , I’m pretty sure that’s all…, isn’t it?" And then quick before we get spotted, quick before our fear gets a hold of us, we bury our heads in the sand.
In the Bible, it seemed that everyone knew who was demon possessed (we hate that word, we try to find ways around that word, we use words like oppressed, afflicted, influenced, attacked…). They brought their sick and their demon possessed to Jesus to be healed (actually to be SOZO’ed, remember that word?) Also to the disciples, and to Paul, etc. Now, it seems, we have no idea who they are, or even IF they are… do we have any demon possessed? We know who the sick are, but we have doctors for that…..
I remember the time I read in Corinthians (again, too lazy to look it up) that "we are not unaware of the devil’s schemes" and I said in my mind "I am absolutely unaware of the devil’s schemes!!" To be unaware is to be vulnerable. I think one of the schemes is to keep us unaware. One of the schemes is to give new, scientific names to his work, or to disguise it as someone else’s work, or to say it’s just ‘part of life, part of living in a fallen world!’ That way he doesn’t really get the blame for it. It’s ambiguous, it’s hopeless, it’s defenseless.
One of the reasons we remain unaware is because we are also unaware of the authority we have to overcome, defend against, and defeat the works of the devil. We don’t want to learn or know about the authority because, in order to learn about it, we first need to acknowledge our need for it, and to acknowledge it - is scary. I’d rather pretend the big scary lion isn’t there, than look it in the face and tell it to leave, because, whatif… it doesn’t. Now I’ve stood up, it’s seen me, it knows I’m here (which it knew perfectly well all along) and I’ve provoked it (even though I’m not entirely sure it even exists, cause I sure wish it didn’t exist, and I hope that my wishing would make it not exist). What I do not see and recognize, because I am unaware, is that right behind me, actually right IN me, is Jesus Christ, with all the authority of heaven, seated at the right hand of God, far above all power, and rule, and authority. HE is IN me! He has GIVEN me authority. The devil, of course, knows this, and therefore conceals his identity behind much less sinister labels. When be begin to think of accusing him of being behind something, he flat out denies it, and because is the author of truth (NOT!!!) we believe him!! He is the author of lies; OF COURSE he denies it!
One day I was praying for a person who lives (or has lived) in the "Dark tunnel" of depression. I believe in my Spirit that the depression was demonic and I began praying in that respect. I prayed the scripture about Jesus being the light of the world, about being rescued out of the kingdom of darkness, about hope, about abundant life. In the name of Jesus I spoke to the demon on this persons behalf and commanded it to leave. Then I waited while someone else prayed. While I waited I could ‘hear’ (in a spiritual way) very loudly and very clearly, the devil yelling to the person being prayed for that this depression was absolutely NOT from him, that he was being falsely accused and how dare she (meaning me) suggest such a thing! This depression was all chemical, and he absolutely could not be blamed for it! Then, much more subtly, and soothingly, he began to whisper that she (meaning me) simply doesn’t understand you. She (meaning me) does not understand the complexities of this condition. You thought you were safe here, but, clearly, you are not. She (meaning me) is judging you…
As far as I know, this person was not set free that day. The father of lies won this battle, for now. I am stepping out in faith when I pray like that, and maybe I mis-stepped, maybe I jumped the gun, or maybe I just declared war. I don’t know. Maybe I planted seeds for this person to think about and chew over, about the possibility of depression being NOT God’s will, but entirely someone else’s will to steal joy and light and abundance of life.
Until the return of Christ, we are in hostile territory, but we are not defenseless. We have armor, we have weapons, we have authority. Jesus said "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He also said his burden is light and his yoke is easy. He also said learn of me. Did you notice that? Maybe if it seems too hard, or too heavy, or too dark, maybe there is more to learn……. We have everything we need for abundant life and godliness through… our knowledge of him who called us… Maybe we need to learn for real what the will and the heart and the character of God is, so that when someone or some thing piles a burden on us, we do not call what is bad good and wrong right. Maybe we need to learn about the authority given us in Christ, so we don’t have to put up with, and fall for, or succumb to, the schemes of the devil.
We all know we are in a spiritual battlefield, we all know who the enemy is, but we don’t know what he looks like, or what he’s capable of. I’m not saying we should spend all our time studying the enemy, but we should know our God well enough to know when something IS or IS NOT of him. A banker knows a counterfeit not because he studies a counterfeit, but because he is so familiar with the real thing. A counterfeiter counts on the banker not paying attention.
posted by toomanywhatifs at
4:30 PM
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