Battle Cry

It is so easy for us as Christians to forget that God is a fighting God. And that the nice, little angels that we imagine over our shoulders are actually fearsome creatures that would shock and humble us if we were ever to encounter them face to face. And I am so very thankful for that reality. Because, frankly, there is a spiritual war of the highest caliber going on around us every day, in the spiritual realm that we cannot see. And the demons unleashed upon this world are brutal, hideous, rogue beasts who are vicious and cunning in their attacks. So I am glad that the forces working on our side are just as brutal in their defense of us. If the angels guarding us were of the weak, smiling persuasion, or like the overweight, distracted man in the new Capital One commmercials, we would be totally and eternally screwed. They are, in fact, quick, blinding, and fearless in their pursuits, filled with holy anger (yep, there is such a thing...check out God in the Old Testament) and fierce loyalty. There have been so many instances that I have run into lately of my dearest Christian friends under intense and unrelenting attack. It is both disheartening and enlightening (I love that God is a God of paradoxes!). Disheartening in the fact that it can be exhausting and emotionally wearing to be under attack for long periods of time, and to question why God would allow this to happen. And enlightening in the fact that each bout of warfare makes us into more adept soldiers in the faith. God is not dumb. He knows that if we are not challenged in our faith or put through the fire, we will be weak under pressure from Satan, and we will turn away and perhaps be lost from Him. So He allows us to enter the fire, burns the impurities and selfishness away, and leaves the child He saved standing there, trusting only Him. Is this difficult? Yes. Is He good? Infinitely. What other being do you know that loves you enough to make you grow up? None like Him, I assure you. And we always have the assurance, as my dear friend Elizabeth pointed out over the weekend, that God himself has some words to say about this:
1 Peter 5:10
"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

"After you have suffered a little while." This, too, shall pass. When God's maturing of you reaches its intended point, and not before, and not after. What an amazing God we serve. In the meantime, tie on the armor of spiritual warfare, and be prepared to fight. It's a battle for our lives. Let's not be weak now. Hear the trumpets sounding, and CHARGE!!!