This past week I was taken on a journey that I had not been on before. It turned out to actually be an attack from the enemy, but it was disguised in a way that I'd not seen before. This past Wednesday was the one year anniversary of the death of my youngest son Noah, and so naturally I was a little on the melancholy side of life that day. But we made it through it, and I figured that the following day would be easier. Boy was I ever wrong about that one.
The following day, my oldest son Micah was leaving for the Philippines to do mission work. What this boils down to for me, is that I got to be up and leaving my house a little bit before 4:00 AM to take him to meet the rest of the team and then drive them to the airport. (I'm not complaining, I'd do this every day if need be.) After returning home at 6:30 AM I read my Bible, drank a little bit more coffee and then went back to bed for an hour of sleep before getting ready for work.
Once I made it to work, I was bombarded with things seeking my attention. I had several refunds, a couple of rude remarks from people in the store and really couldn't wait until lunch so that I could leave and have a few minutes to myself. Well lunch time came and I went home to eat. (Something that I do often) As I was sitting in my recliner after my meal, I fell fast asleep, and was awakened by my wife and daughter coming into the house. (About 2 hours after lunch.)
That night was quiet around the house, I spent some time on the porch reading, Cheryl in her recliner watching/snoozing during American Idol and April in her room sleeping/working on homework. We all went to bed early with little to no conversation at all.
The next morning as I was showering, I was dealing with this heaviness and melancholy in my soul again, when these two words came up from my heart; "hope deferred". Proverbs 13;12 starts with those two words and says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life." Those two words rolled around in my heart for most of the morning, and then about noon it hit me! I knew what the Lord was showing me.
For the past several weeks, I have been hearing a lot of bad news; one friend I have is divorcing his wife because of substance abuse and her lack of getting help, another friend's marriage is failing due to infidelity on his spouse's part, and I've got one friend who is facing a terminal illness. Couple all of that together with the anniversary of Noah's death and the remorse and guilt that were trying to pile on top of me, and you've got a recipe for disaster.
It was then that I saw how my hope was being deferred. The enemy was using these things that my friends are going through to steal/erode my hope in God and His Word. The enemy had launched an attack on me from the side, and I didn't realize it for what it was. You see, had he come directly at me, I would have seen it for the attack that it was and made my stand against him, but because it came from the side it took me a couple of days to see it.
The good news is that I now see it, and I am able to stand against the attack he has brought to me. God never promises us that we won't be attacked, He does promise however He will give us a way out of the attack (test or temptations) 1 Corinthians 10:13 The Message. Now that I know the attack for what it is, I can stand on God's Word and see my way safely out of it.
One other note here, don't say, "Well I read the Bible everyday, and I pray, so that will never happen to me." Don't bank on that. I read the Bible daily, and pray a lot, and still the enemy found a way to get me off of my game, if even for just a couple of days. There are no guarantees that you will not come under attack, on the contrary, if you are doing what God's Word says, you will more than likely have a target on your back. The enemy comes against us all, we have to stand against him and his schemes, daily.
Better days are on the horizon, I can see it! Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!
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