In Plain Sight

I like to think I’m the sort of person who pays attention to small details. If a frame in my house is moved ever so slightly, I will notice it—and adjust it.

But last week, I realized I’m not as observant as I imagine. I take the same route to work and home every day. It’s about a five-minute drive, and I do it four times every day—morning to work, home for lunch, back to work, and home at night.

So every day I pass the same buildings, signs, streets. One of those days, I needed to stop by the ATM to get some cash on my way home from work.

No big deal, right?

I pulled into the turning lane, turned left, and was about to turn into the parking lot of my bank before I realized THE BUILDING WAS GONE. Completely leveled.

When I got home, I asked Howell about it, and he said they’d done that three days ago. THREE DAYS!? I’d driven by this piece of property a dozen times without realizing it was no longer there.

A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of hearing Stasi Eldredge speak at our church’s Life Giving Saturday. She talked about spiritual warfare and the enemy we face, who seeks to devour us.

In John 10:10, Jesus says “The enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy, but I came that you might have life abundantly.”

Jesus wants us to have an abundant, full life—but that LIFE is going to be opposed! Sometimes, she said, we get so down on ourselves, believing lies, or we get down because of circumstances without even realizing we’re being opposed by the enemy.

We just accept it as normal, everyday life instead of walking with our armor on, instead of walking in freedom.

The Lord reminded me of that as I laughed at myself for days over the demolished building I’d missed. While I can be so attentive to details sometimes, I can also be blind to the schemes of the enemy.

And it’s usually when I’m not paying attention—when life gets busy or relationships get hard or I get run down—that I forget to battle.

I start believing lies instead of speaking truth. Lies about myself—that I’m not enough or don’t measure up. Or lies about my Heavenly Dad—that He’s not really good or He’s holding out on me.

But the Lord has called us to stand firm and to fight the good fight of faith. Every day. Every hour. Every moment.

How about you, my friends?

Jesus already has our victory. We are more than overcomers! Let’s get our armor on.

When the Enemy Dive Bombs You

Tis the season for nests and baby birds. We love to sit and watch our Barn Swallows from the front porch. Every morning, the babies sing us a song from their nest.

In our backyard, the birds’ nests usually don’t have as much success. Although the massive pecan trees look protective, when the wind blows, they inevitably knock nests to the ground—a sight that always breaks my heart.

This year, one momma did good, and her nest is not budging, even with all the storms we’ve had this summer.

She’s also fiercely protective of that nest, and I suppose, rightly so.

Every time Rizzoli, our Weimaraner, goes outside, she dive bombs her the second she walk out the door. What cracks me up, though, is that Rizzo completely ignores this momma bird that is about three inches from breaking skin on her head with its beak.

Our girl prances through the backyard, smelling for pecans or rabbits—completely unaware of the fiery darts nearing her head.

The other day, as Howell and I were laughing at this scene that we’ve seen repeatedly for weeks now, the Lord reminded me of Ephesians 6, where it talks about standing firm, wearing armor, being prepared for the fiery darts of the enemy.

The enemy wants to mess with us all the time, and most of the time, we get rattled when we see his darts thrown at us.

The Lord gave me the scene with Rizzoli as the perfect picture of what mature Christians should do. We’re not bothered by the enemy. We know he’s not actually going to get us. He might swoop close and make loud noises to distract us, but he can’t really do anything—so we just go about our business.

She’s a picture of someone walking in the authority of God.

So, stand firm, my friends. Put on the whole armor because we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. But be bold and courageous because we know the enemy is already defeated. He has no power whatsoever to harm us, even if he tries.

The only power he has is what we give him.

Take the tip from Rizzoli. Enjoy life, stay on mission, and prance around your territory like you own the place—because all authority under heaven and on earth has been given to us through Jesus.

We are victorious!