“Stay Alert”

When  “big events” happen in our life, they get our attention. They can affect us for a long time.  Perhaps the birth of a child, getting married, the death of a loved one, major changes in our society, problems in the church, wars, etc.  It’s not surprising that these types of events can really alter our lives and  knock us back a bit. 

Yet, I find  that even minor things can “throw me off my game”. In themselves they are not monumental, but they affect me. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I’m affected by them. Recently I’ve experience being distracted by a number of “minor things”. 

In the past month or so, I fell out of bed onto the night table hurting my ribs… a trip in the ambulance to the ER…. taking some 5 weeks to recover. I went thru cataract surgery on both eyes over a 4-5 week period. I’m in the midst of a 21 day treatment for pre-cancerous lesions on my face…applying this cream that burns them away…hopefully. I’m scheduled for a procedure to implant a heart monitor in my chest…supposedly a very minor procedure… have an upcoming colonoscopy (oh boy, can’t wait). And I’m in the process of changing my health insurance which has been a confused and trying experience which made me sorry for even thinking about doing it. 

All of these in themselves are not big deals… everyone goes thru them …. none are “life and death” events…. no heart surgery or cancer treatments. I’m almost embarrassed to mention them…. and yet.

So, what’s the point of this BLOG. Well I’m not really sure except to say that we are all more vulnerable than maybe we realize. It doesn’t take a lot to trip us up. My wife reminds me that the devil is harassing me with some of this stuff and I need to be on guard. The fiery darts of the evil one can cause us to stagger if we’re not careful. 

Paul cautions us of this in his letter to the Ephesians.

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints… (Eph. 6:11-18)

So, we need to always put on the armor of God so that we can stand. Let’s be alert even to minor things that we think we can handle on our own. With the Lord at our side, we can handle anything. Without the Lord, everything is a big deal and can knock us on our backside. Let’s stay alert. And even if we make a mess of things, the Lord is there to help us and pick us up. And that is very good news.