“Any movement toward freedom and life, any movement toward God or others, will be opposed. Marriage, friendship, beauty, rest- the thief wants it all.” ~John Eldredge, Waking the Dead
I had one of the most beautiful, wonderful, spiritual experiences of my life recently. I was praying for some people I knew who were struggling with various issues. While the issues varied, I had the sense that they all had something similar at the core- that they stemmed from false perceptions of how God wanted to relate to them. I was overwhelmed by the thought of how often God is indicted because of a lack of understanding or a level of spiritual immaturity on our parts. In that moment, I had a transcendent experience- a moment of clarity when I was tuned in to the frequency of the Spirit in such a way that I got it! Something that I’d been professing belief in for quite some time actually clicked somewhere in my heart, and I really got it. In a moment that in some ways defies explanation or description, I caught a glimpse of my Father’s heart as I hadn’t before, and I loved him more fully than ever before in my life. And I wanted to defend him! Not that I thought he needed me to come to his defense… I can only liken it to how I might feel if someone were upset with my husband about something he’d done or said if they didn’t know him well and understand that his intentions and motives were pure and right. I would want to correct their misinterpretation of his actions and reveal his character to them; I would want them to see in him the man I know him to be. I cried out, “God! I want people to know who you are! I want them to love you the way I do! I want them to know your love the way I’ve known it and am knowing it!” And I realized: I was living out that which I had been claiming to believe. My desire to reach out to others was, in that moment, a natural outflow of my love relationship with God. It wasn’t based on a sense of obligation or legalism. It was incredibly exciting to me. This was a milemarker in my journey with God. But then…
Thoughts. Impressions. Fear. Ideas that obviously weren’t coming from God. “Who do you think you are? Do you think you’re oh-so-spiritual now? Pride!” And then insane feelings of insecurity. “Well, you’d better love God that much, because you know so-and-so? She’s on the verge of deciding she really can’t stand you after all. You’re going to be alone… left behind… insignificant…” It would seem I should have learned by now; nevertheless, I tend to underestimate the enemy’s determination to hold me back and bring me down. I underestimate my potential; and I underestimate the power and effectiveness of a friend of God coming alive and living from the heart. When we embrace our liberation, we encourage others to do likewise. So we become a threat.
“So, it becomes the devil’s business to keep the Christian’s spirit imprisoned. He knows that the believing and justified Christian has been raised up out of the grave of his sins and trespasses. From that point on, Satan works that much harder to keep us bound and gagged, actually imprisoned in our own grave clothes. He knows that if we continue in this kind of bondage… we are not much better off than when we were spiritually dead.” ~A.W. Tozer
So I pray for more of that spiritual acuity. Vision beyond what my eyes can behold. Awareness of the things that go on in the spiritual realm, because that’s where the battle is taking place. I pray that for those I know personally, and I pray that for those I haven’t yet met. Because I know my Father’s great passion for them. He sets our feet in a wide open space, and there is freedom to roam and explore and find those treasures he’s put in our paths to find. Life is so much more than following the rules; becoming a “good” or “better” Christian… It’s about living life to the full. It’s about becoming!
