As I sit inside looking at a rare site - the Portland area covered in snow - I’m reminded of the importance of perspective. For some, snow is the pits. It keeps them inside, it requires additional expenses, and it makes traveling dangerous. For others, like children, it's magical! Snow means snuggling by a fire, snowball numbed fingers warmed by hot chocolate and of course snow means Christmas. It's all a matter of how you look at it. But perspective has been hard to come by these days. The truth is, this letter is a month late because I've been hard pressed on every side to find my own feet, to say nothing of offering anything positive to others. For the last few months, since our last Boot Camp really, any time I ask God what a group of believers needs to hear he always says 'hope.' - and no wonder, I find myself needing the same thing. I don't think I've met a single person who doesn't feel like our country and our world have entered totally uncharted waters. I know dozens of men who are underemployed or unemployed; with the election behind us, I see precious little of the hope that our president-elect was supposed to bring even among his most ardent supporters. Which is no fault of Mr. Obama - I just see so many folks who sense that we are now a very long way from Kansas and the rules are unknown here. The politics and polices of the left and the right seem equally unfit for the times. But in all of this I was brought to Ecc 7:9-10 (...a great example of why we need to listen for God's voice. Who ever thinks to go to Ecclesiastes for encouragement...) "Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. Say not, Why were the former days better than these? For it is not from wisdom that you ask this." At first, this verse seemed like it didn't really apply – I wasn't angry. Worried? Sure. Frustrated? Yes. But angry...Of course, God never screws up His lines and He was after something deep in my heart. As I sat with the Lord I started to look under the hood and see what had really been going on in there. Nine months ago, when things started to go south, the enemy was whispering "you're blowing it." At that time it wasn't yet clear that the whole world was staggering and I was worried about my own ability to provide for my family. Things that had always worked in the past weren't working anymore, old reliable wells were drying up, and the pressure was beginning to show. But once the cat came out of the bag, and it was clear that the emperor was buck naked...well at least I knew I wasn't blowing it. But if I wasn't screwing up, then why was everything still so hard? Where was my answered prayer? Why the heck was God holding out on me!? ...and there was that anger God was hinting at. There's basically nothing we can say to start to explain the 'why' questions of today, but I know this verse warns me not to go down that road anyway. But I do know a few things that I’ve learned along the way...
Things are not what they seem. The world has no shortage of pundits and opinion pitchers, men and women paid to explain what’s happening, and they are all wrong. Anytime we ask 'why' questions without the blood of Christ we subject ourselves to the spirit of deception. This world is the kingdom of darkness – we are citizens and soldiers of the kingdom of light. Let me encourage you to guard your heart from the false interpretations of this world. Listen to your father in heaven, seek his answers, and hold on top what he tells you like your life depends on it...it just may.
We are at war. I don't need to point out the evidence that this is true, it's more obvious than ever. And yet, this is often the lesson we lose track of first. A man in a foxhole never wonders why he's being shot at – it's obvious! But we must keep our war mentality or we will blame the hardships of this season on God and deeply misunderstand the times. If it feels like warfare...fight back. If it doesn't feel like warfare...fight back. Remember Peter's basic assumption that the Devil is prowling about looking for someone to devour, and act like that’s true.
You have a critical role to play. The sense of helplessness is crushing the life out of so many hearts today. But you were made in the image of God! A mighty warrior, the God who loves to come through – and you are a stem from that victorious stock. No matter how difficult things look, one thing I know for certain is this: You were made for this moment. You were made for this trial. You were MADE for this season – you DO have what it takes to endure, to survive, and the rescue others - even if it doesn't feel like it today. So often, these seasons are won not by the clever, but by the stubborn. Again, allow me to encourage you to set your face like a flint and determine to persevere.
When we hear God's voice, His intimate counsel, we can stand in His word. When we stand on His word, we are living by faith. When we live by faith, our Lord is proud of His sons and all heaven stands to back us up. Take heart men – have hope. You were set free by Christ to take ground from the kingdom of darkness and to keep it. We stand with you in a spirit of camaraderie and fidelity.