This is what I see when I look at the lives of those I care about today. Like the proverbial frog in the pot of slowly heated water, those I care about are comfortably ignorant of the disastrous reality that awaits them for all eternity.
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you are rushing around trying to warn people about an approaching danger but no one sees you–no one can hear you? It’s like those movies where a dead person is trying to communicate with the living but they can’t see or hear them.
But then you wake up and everything is alright.
Being a “born-again” Christian can feel like that most of the time…except for the waking up and everything being alright part. The vail of darkness that once blinded us has been lifted and we become starkly aware of the evil forces that surround us, seeking our destruction. We try to lift that vail in others so that they, too, will see the mortal danger that lies ahead. But they are too enamored with the things of this world…the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification, just as we once were. And no matter how hard we try to reach them with the truth our efforts fall flat and we can catch ourselves mourning the living as if they were already dead.
How Soon We Forget
This trap that we Believers often find ourselves in is not only counter-productive but an exhibition of our lack of faith in The Almighty. I don’t know anything about your past life, your sin, or your depth of depravity but I know that if Jesus can save someone like me there is no one beyond his reach.
When we are first awakened by the truth of the Gospel we see ourselves as we truly are in the eyes of God: sinners worthy of death. The Bible says that ‘all have sinned and fallen short’ and that ‘there is none righteous-no not one’. None means none, folks.
So at some point in the course of our steady walk towards the abyss a seed planted by one of those annoying born-again Christians breaks through its shell and begins to sprout; a prayer faithfully petitioning the God of Heaven, day after day, by a loving family member or friend is answered and a prompting of the Holy Spirit penetrates the lost soul of a loved one. At that point the recipient exercises his or her free will by either ignoring the prompting of the Spirit or by seriously pursuing the truth of all of this “God talk”. If they are genuine in their desire to know the truth, the truth will be revealed to them and will set them free.
So this ‘spiritual distress’, for lack of a better term, that we as Christ-followers experience as we inwardly fret over our unsaved loved-ones is a lack of faith in the One who saved Us. Sometimes we forget just how bad of a state we were in at the time of our salvation. Faith in Christ has so reformed us that we conveniently forget the level of our despair and desperation we were experiencing at the moment we finally surrendered our will to His and confessed our need for His intervention into our lives.
Psychological Warfare
This spiritual distress can create within us a spiritual a PTSD of sorts if we let it. This is one of Satan’s most effective tools for eliminating his enemy combatants (us) from the fight. When we see no positive response to our efforts to reach the lost we can become discouraged and stop fighting the ‘Good Fight’ altogether.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” — (Ephesians 6:12)
How do we fight an enemy we cannot see? Prayer. Prayer is our secret weapon.
Prayer unleashes the ‘Special Forces’ of the Heavenly armies. The holy angels who do battle against the forces of evil in the invisible realm come to our aid.
In the mighty name of Jesus, the name above all names, we wield the powerful “Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The same sword that Jesus used when he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” — (Hebrews 4:12).
Satan knows he cannot steal our souls from the hand of God so he seeks to destroy our faith and draw us into a state of defeat in order to render us ineffective in the war we are commissioned by God to fight. One more Christian sidelined makes his evil agenda that much easier to implement.
Having Done All–STAND
Yes, it breaks our heart to see our friends and loved ones go through the same meat grinder that we did before coming to our senses and turning to Christ Jesus. Yes, sometimes we feel like we are having no affect at all on those we see taking that wide highway to Hell. But we must not resign from the fight!
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” — (Galatians 6:9)
and…
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” — (Ephesians 6:13)
Take heart, brothers and sisters in Christ, our victorious King and Lord is returning soon and we will soon be joining him as he rules over the Earth for a thousand years (revelation 20:1-6). And then the New Earth for eternity (Revelation 21:1-8).
May we all keep our minds and hearts in Jesus Christ-Our Blessed Hope.
God bless.