A warrior mindset is always focused on victory. It allows no possibility of defeat. It does not retreat. It stands under extreme pressure. It advances by God’s permission. The Lord has a language of intimidation; it’s called worship. Your intimacy intimidates the enemy. Never forget that he is afraid of rejoicing hearts. He cannot stay in the presence of real praise.
~ Graham Cooke
For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, and you said, “No! We will flee upon horses”; therefore you shall flee away; and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as He hears it, He answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide Himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a Word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
~ from Isaiah 30
Oh beloved, it is true. We will do almost anything other than stand still and see the salvation of the L_RD. This rugged non-dependence is the cancer of the West, and the disease is metastasizing across the planet through the deluge of post-modern and millennial media and the transfer of technology.
However, it is impossible (and just a bit goofy) for us to blame the media. For media is simply the medium across which the problem flows. We are the problem. We are absolutely addicted to doing things our own way.
We see a problem, and we instantly fall into a fleshly response of panic and worry and doubt and fear and misguided action. And even though we know that such action always leads to worse and worse consequences, we still seem willing to try again.
Our motions actually impede the movement of His Spirit in our lives, and things rapidly fall apart. We are, as humans, imbued with nearly godlike power to decide our own destinies. And G_d, while well able to control us, simply does not, because He Loves us enough to let us choose to accept the Love and power He offers.
Oh, but He longs to share real power with those willing to receive it. However, something within us has to die for this to happen.
We do.
Can we see it? When we try to fight the battles of life, we may have some limited success, but the probability of failure remains high. However, Scripture is abundantly clear that we can Live lives of profound righteousness and peace and joy in the power of His Holy Spirit – which never get defeated.
Said simply, G_d never made allowances for us to be the power source for battle in life. However, He did indeed to Design us to be devastatingly powerful people. And there is only One Way for this to happen. It is Him Living out this power through us. And it is simply impossible for us to be strong enough for just about anything (except making really bad mistakes) unless we come to a full stop in our own spirit, and allow Him to both own and operate our very being.
And while this is the great condescending message of the Gospel, it is good news nonetheless. We, in yielding ourselves to Him, enter into a real, tangible and ever-growing relationship-becoming-communion with Him. He becomes the actual center of our existence, and He becomes the only thing we even deem worthy of our praise and desire and affection.
And further, in becoming this close to Him – we begin to become like Him.
We begin to have a profound Love for those around us.
We begin to have astounding power to bring about positive change.
We begin to know and do the will of our now-common Father.
We begin to stop believing in G_d, and simply now come to know Him.
And finally, there is nothing that can stop a warrior like this, for He is now armed and fueled by the One who is Love and Power and Strength Himself. For, in Him, a warrior standing still – at the ready – to be wielded by G_d, is most-definite problem for evil.
Let Him. Oh dear friend. Let Him tonight. Just stand still and see what He does in you and through you!
