The Battle, Continued

The scene is this:
A raging battlefield on a rolling hillside.  The scenery is gorgeous but the battle itself is bloody.  Bodies lie scattered about, contorted in unnatural ways, bloody, badly wounded.  One man stands on a hill just on the other side of the main battlefield.  I stand looking at all that is going on around me and somehow know that my only mission is to get to him.  No matter what, no matter how, I must get to him.  I resolve deep in my soul to fight.

Many years ago I had this same idea come up during an especially difficult time in life and that was when God showed me that Jesus was the man standing on the other side of the battle field and my only goal was to get to him.  I began fighting and clawing my way to Jesus.  I quickly realized that the enemy force I was fighting was not the circumstances and people in my life at the moment but they were evil forces: demons, minions, all things evil that were trying to keep me from getting to Him.  So I fought.  I fought with all I had in me swinging my sword and moving forward until finally I made it to Him.  I was so grateful to get there and so exhausted.  I fully expected to hear those words that people always say we will hear when we stand before God. "Well done my good and faithful servant".  I, exhausted, fell upon Him so thankful to finally be there with Him and I excitedly knew what I was about to hear.  To my horror, I didn't hear those words.  What I did hear cut me to the core.  Jesus looks at me and asks "where have you been?".  Where have I been?!  Did He really just ask me that question?  I was devastated! 

Without even looking, I flung my arm in the direction of the bloody battlefield I just came from and exclaimed "I've been fighting my way to you!  All those demons, all those circumstances, all those hurts that were trying to beat me down and keep me from you; THAT is where I have been!".  With a gentle, yet confused, tone He asks "what demons?".  Exasperated at this point I turn my head, point, and exclaim "THOSE DEMONS!".  As I turn my head and as the words leave my mouth I realize the truth:  there is nothing there.  The battlefield is empty.  No battle.  No bodies.  No blood.  Just a peaceful and beautiful rolling countryside.  Now confused and even more exasperated I ask "what happened?  I JUST fought my way here!  I JUST fought all the demons and battles! I'm exhausted!  I was badly wounded but I made it here to YOU!"  He gently states; "I had already fought and won those battles for you.  All you had to do was walk to me.  You chose to fight because you felt you had to.  You wanted to feel that you were doing it on your own, that you were earning your way here.  In reality, they could not touch you.  You simply had to walk to me."
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Flash forward to this week and all that is going on around us.  All the discussions, all the issues, all the pondering.  My mind has been racing, like maybe yours has as well, with questions like:
How do I help?
Who do I help?
How do I, at least, not hinder?
When do I fight?
​Who do I fight?
When do I simply pray?
How do I know how to proceed?
What do I teach my grand kids about all of this?
How do I help my family?
How do I support others that I love?

While talking to a friend a couple of days ago, God helped me see it a little more clearly.  
I keep telling people to remember that the Bible tells us that we do not war against flesh and blood but that is easy to say...not as easy to put into practice when you are feeling personally, and sometimes, physically attacked.  Maybe by an illness, maybe by a person, but it is real and it can be scary.  He brought to mind the vision He gave me so many years ago about walking to Him.  Then He broadened it a bit.  All these years I have seen only myself and the demons I was fighting on that battlefield but now He has shown me that I'm not the only one there.  My husband is there as well.  He is being attacked by demons also.  Demons and minions like: fear, expectation, pride, racism issues, political issues, reminders of his past, illnesses, and more.  He is surrounded.  Weapons being hurled, ammunition flying, the battle is real and it is fierce!  Now that I learned this lesson years ago, I know that the enemy cannot touch me.  He can yell, he can distract, he can be scary as hell...but he cannot touch me.  Why?  Because I have remembered to put on the armor God gave me.  It protects me against all of those weapons and allows me to follow the direction that Jesus gave me of simply walking to Him.  What if my husband doesn't know that yet?  What if he is being bombarded by real enemies that he is fighting and becoming overwhelmed by?

I look around and am astonished to see that it is not just us on this battlefield.  There are all the people I love on this field and they too are being attacked!  I am beginning to be overwhelmed!  I don't know who to help!  I don't know which direction to go first!  I see people I love being attacked because of their beliefs!  I see people I love being attacked by illness and disease!  I see people I love being attacked because of the color of their skin!  I see people I love being attacked with complacency and blindness! I see them attacking and fighting each other!  I want to help them all but I am only one person!  What do I do?!

In that same gentle voice that spoke the words "all you had to do was walk to me"; I hear the words "your husband is your first priority".  It becomes clear to me that I must go to him.  I must go to the fight he is in and help him.  I want to be frustrated because I feel that he shouldn't need my help.  He should be stronger than that!  He should already know that the battle is the Lords and we should be helping others see that!  Jesus reminds me again that those thoughts are part of the enemies weapons and I am doing exactly what I am saying my husband shouldn't do.  I am fighting when I should be trusting.  I am letting the weapon of condemnation penetrate and distract me.  I walk to my husband knowing more clearly now that together we can protect each other with our shields of faith linked together.  By linking my shield with his and continuing on my walk to Jesus I can help him see that he can quit fighting and walk to Jesus as well.

Linked together with my husband, as we walk to Jesus, the enemies weapons will not be able to harm us.  We will begin to see more clearly what is going on around us and we can quit fighting each other and those we love.  We can link our shields with the others we come to on the battlefield and one by one grow an army covered in faith.  

As one unit, this army will then be able to simply walk to Jesus.  No fighting necessary.  No fear.  No weapon formed against us will prosper.  We will walk to Jesus, linked together, and THEN we will hear the words "Well done my good and faithful servants".