I just wanted to share with you a sermon I had prepared for our time in Moldova but didn't actually get to share… The Lord is just speaking to me through so many avenues this month and I wanted to share what was on my mind as I was going to present this to the people here…
Ephesians 6:10-17
How many of you believe fully in the power of God?
Now, how many of you believe that the devil has power as well?
After 4 months of being sick constantly and not knowing if I was going to be able to continue the race…missing ministry and just being physically miserable more than I have been healthy …I started to question my purpose and part on this race. If I'm not able to participate in ministry and I'm miserable physically 75% of the time what is the point of me being here….God why have you let me go through all this pain on top of trying to process the things you gave me in the beginning. I'm trying to process who my identity in Christ is…working on patience… cultivating a mature relationship with God and then I'll do all that through being sick the entire time. I was majorly confused. Then the more my teammates kept telling me how strong I was… saying they were proud of me for fighting because they might have thought about going home in the beginning …I thought…Satan is totally trying to take this from me… Satan is trying to steal my joy on this race and my purpose here. Satan doesn't want me to grow and change for Christ.
I’ve had to remind myself lately with the verses in Ephesians 6… my struggle is not against these things that I think are hindering me from doing ministry…it is against the devil…the devil knows what kind of powerful work is going on by the fellowship and love that we all share for one another.
I constantly remind myself, when I am not seeking the Lord in prayer and quiet time with him, Satan creeps in and puts thoughts in my head…lies saying I can’t fight anymore.
The power of darkness is just that…darkness…we do not belong in the darkness. We are children of the light. We are called to live in the light, full of love and faith. We are called to freedom and called to a life greater than fighting against the physical things of this life. We have freedom to share in faults but fight against the world’s dark and false hopes. Satan wants to seem invisible to us and because we don’t acknowledge his existence, we have given him an opportunity to enter our lives.
Many times Satan tries to rob us of our identity in Christ. The very thing Christ died for- our freedom and having an intimate relationship with God. Satan wants us to feel hopeless…
I want everyone to close their eyes for a second and imagine with me…
Imagine you are a gladiator and you are thrown into an arena with lions, other armed gladiators, and hidden traps beneath your feet…You are given no armor and no weapons and told you must come out alive. Satan wants us to feel this way…Feel as if we have nothing to fight him with.
Now imagine this… Before you are thrown into the arena the Emperor supplies you with the best armor and weapons he has, then sends you in to fight…you would have a little bit more confidence in winning right?
We have been given all these things to fight against the darkness. Seeking after the Lord and being intentional with the relationship we have with God only strengthens this armor.
Constant prayer and seeking answers and rest in the Lord allows no room for the enemy to take up room in our souls.
I want to leave you with one last encouraging set of verses.
Lametations 3:22-25
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him
The Lord is really showing me how much I need to rely on Him…seek Him…trust that His will and everything I'm going through has a purpose and I will make it out in the end with something to look back on and thank Him.
