swing Your robe down low

Ephesians 6:10-20... "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. 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. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."

This was one of those passages I always refused to read just because everybody always talked about it.  Psalm 23 was another one.  But thanks to a professor that made us study and meditate on Psalm 23 every class for an entire semester, Psalm 23 has become a precious companion to me.  Ephesians 6:10-20 has also become quite treasured, as it continually reminds me of reality and instructs me in how to live in reality.

All who know me know that my heart has always been called to the broken, rejected, forgotten, despised... the ones that everyone has given up on, or never even noticed.  I've known that I was created to be with these people since I was a little kid, and now I know that God created me uniquely for such a call.  I am often aware of the warfare going on in the spiritual realms, as immediate and/or tangible results are incredibly rare with these beautiful and broken people.  But sometimes I get stuck in thinking that we can just be strategic, fun, interesting, persistent... something, and that lives will be changed by our being that something.  When the change you are looking for is spiritual though, we just can't cause it.  Sounds obvious, but I'm finding that it is easy to forget.

Last night I was reminded as I fell to my knees with my fellow leaders and cried out to God and renounced Satan and His schemes and powers over the kids in Minneapolis... I was reminded that we are fighting the devil; we are fighting the one who does nothing but try to thwart the glorious will of our Sovereign Lord.  And we are specifically fighting the evil chains keeping these beautiful kids in bondage.

A couple weeks ago while praying with our leaders I was brought to tears as God gave me a vision of the spiritual warfare that intensifies around and in these kids as we bring them into the presence of the Lord and expose them to love and Truth.  It was a heavy thing to realize, and it has reminded me that I should be spending as much time praying for these kids as I spend actually with them.

Last night, for some reason, sensing again the clear spiritual warfare present was initially really heavy, but it ended up being really freeing for me.  To remember that these kids weren't cursing me but cursing the Spirit within me, and that Satan was bombarding them with such lies... I didn't have to have hurt feelings, or be angry towards the kids, because it was about so much more than us.  I am a soldier in a battle that is already won.  Satan is defeated.  He's still on the prowl, be will not prevail.  Knowing that makes him a lot less intimidating!  It's like when you were a kid and you see this huge ferocious pitbull on a chain and because you know it can't actually eat you you just tease it and try to piss it off.  (Anyone else do that?  No?  Yeah, me neither.)

Clearly I have lost focus here, so I'm going to just share the lyrics to an old Jars of Clay song that played on repeat until I fell asleep last night.  Sorry for the lack of fluidity in this post...

No one would love me
If they knew all the things I hide
My words fall to the floor
As tears drip through the telephone line

And the hands I've seen raised to the sky
Not waving but drowning all this time
I'll try to build the ark that they need
To float to you upon the crystal sea

   Give me your hand to hold
   'Cause I can't stand to love alone
   And love alone is not enough to hold us up
   We've got to touch your robe
   So swing your robe down low
   Swing your robe down low 

The prince of despair's been beaten
But the loser still fights
Death's on a long leash
Stealing my friends to the night

And everyone cries for the innocent
You say to love the guilty, too
And I'm surrounded by suffering and sickness
So I'm working tearing back the roof 

And the pain of the world is a burden and it's my cross to bear
And I stumble under all the weight
I know you're Simon standing there
And I know you're standing there