For the past few weeks I have been feeling a little restless in my faith. I'm not talking about a bad kind of restless, like when-is-this-going-to-be-over kind of restless. No, what I'm talking about is more along the lines of how-can-you-just-be-sitting-there kind of restless.
At first I thought I was a little odd to feel so restless, because the majority of believers I see around me seem very calm and collected and not too concerned about much in the way of spiritual warfare. But then I got to thinking that maybe I'm not strange because there is, in fact, a battle raging around me all the time!
Why are more people not restless over this?? True, our battle is not with flesh and blood. It is much more real than that. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we are battling with "rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness" and we are fighting against "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm." To me, the fact that we can't see our enemies is all the more reason to feel restless over it. And what I don't think a lot of people understand is that this battle is raging literally all the time, and we are a part of it whether we want to be or not. We can either fight, or we can give in and let the enemy have the victory.
This is why I cringe to see believers who just want to blend in with the society around them...a society that is to profane and vulgar! We are supposed to be set-apart! That means that when people so much as see us, they should know who we are. When they hear us speak they should know without a doubt who we serve and what we're all about. They should be struck down by the purity, the modesty of both outer and inner appearance, and the very way that we conduct ourselves. This should hit them so hard that it is beyond evident to them that no one but the God of the Universe, the Almighty who was and is and still will be, could possibly be responsible for how we are. How are we supposed to fight in this battle if we're having such an identity crisis?
There is a line in the sand. I know, cliche, but level with me here. Which side are you on? Are you on the side where people try to fit in? The side where people are bowing to the traditions of man, whether or not they realize it? Or are you on God's side; the side where the only standard is His Word?
Do people know who you are, or do you hide it? Don't be ashamed of your Creator, because He is bigger than everything else in your life put together. If not for Him, you wouldn't even be here. As the world goes more and more downhill, it is the time for us to stand up. We need to get ourselves together, get down on our knees before our Maker, and stand in the face of the Enemy.
It's time for us to stand up and determine who will win.
