Shadows that Haunt

The shadows of fear, anxiety and self-indulgence all too often become ghosts and phantoms that haunt us.  The slightest gust of wind fills us with terror and a creaky floor causes us to freeze.  Friends become backstabbers, our parents our adversaries, and God—an enemy.  With darting eyes and racing hearts we find ourselves hurrying along, occasionally daring to rapidly glance back over our shoulder. 

Why this running and hiding lifestyle as though we are escaped convicts? Is it possible that all the worries of this world, combined with a sin-soiled conscience, have made us restless and prone to fear and avoidance?  I think so.  Maybe we have a sense that someone or something is out to get us, that we are being pursued. It is this terror that quickly consumes us, causing us to turn and flee in fear and mistrust even when we are not being pursued.

“The wicked flee when no one pursues…”

Proverbs 8:21a

Our guilty conscience condemns us, and in our wickedness and despair we are fearful.  But is there hope?  Is there somewhere we may find rest and boldness, somewhere we may shed our fears? 

Indeed, there is one great shadow we need not fear and from which we need not flee.   It is beneath this shadow—the shadow of the cross—that we are freed from the nightmares of our sins.  Here alone are we blessed and here alone do we find rest.  And it is here, in the shadow of the cross, that we are confronted with the Gospel and all that Christ has done on our behalf.  

“But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:5-6

As believers, we have a mighty and merciful message in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is a great hope and security in the face of a guilty conscience that threatens to destroy us.   No longer does every breeze that blows or every floor that creaks condemn us.  We need not agonize over the voices that once joined in unison to testify to our guilt, for in Christ all is washed away and we are freed from fear and healed of our sins!   

“..let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,

with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience

and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Hebrews 10:22

“…for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart,
 and he knows everything.  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, 

we have confidence before God…”

1 John 30:20-21

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Romans 4:7-8

“There is therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:1

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

John 8:36

What great and glorious truths! We are freed and protected and glorified when we hide ourselves within the shadow of Christ and the cross.      

“And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord,

and I will be the glory in her midst.”

Zechariah 2:5

So let us hide ourselves within the fiery walls of protection afforded us by Christ's sacrifice, and when Satan tempts us to despair and our guilty hearts cry out of the guilt we hold within, may we boldly look to the cross and hold fast to the promise and reassurance and hope we have in Christ: 

When Satan tempts me to despair,

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look, and see Him there

Who made an end to all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died,

My sinful soul is counted free;

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me
(Before the Throne of God Above)

So what does mean?  It means we can stop running and hiding.  In Christ we are promised protection from the fires and shadows that haunt us.  His guiltless blood shed for us has covered all our sins and they are remembered no more.  No more! They have been removed as far as the East is from the West.    We may now come to the Father not as vile convicts but as sons and daughters of the King.  Unlike the shadows of our past, the shadow of the cross will never threaten or haunt us.  Rather, it is in the shadow of what Christ has done on the cross that we are granted the greatest blessing of all—we are invited to come and forevermore be filled with the infinite joy of God’s glory and presence.    

“For I will satisfy the weary soul,

 and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

 Jeremiah 31:25

Mark Driscoll: How Dare You

I have recently come along a good friend and joined her in prayer for a friend of hers. This particular girl’s family is in the midst of being torn apart by the actions of an abusive father and husband.  This man is not engaged in the lives of his wife or children, and the message they receive from him is loud and clear—they are meaningless to him.   However, this man doesn’t only fail as the leader of his home because he has neglected them.  As if that weren’t enough, he also bears down on them with a reign of terror. In fact, it has recently become so bad that the mother is now too afraid to go to bed at night for fear of facing her husband’s bitter hatred.  She has thus resorted to crawling into bed with her daughter, both of them hugging and crying themselves to sleep as the night drags on.  Afraid to seek help from the church for fear of what the father will do, this mother and her children have resorted to submitting to this man’s tyranny. Having experienced a similar situation with my own family, it both breaks my heart and angers me to hear of other families suffering such horror and heartache.  The families in today’s churches are under attack, and I believe Satan is waging war against the Christian home, seeking to destroy the lives of men and women who profess the name of Christ. In fact, I’m sure we would be shocked if we knew how prevalent this is in today’s church.

Satan has done a masterful job at distorting the two divine mandates of headship and submission. Sadly, it is not uncommon to see men who authoritatively control their families in a selfish, self-serving way. On the other extreme, today’s church is filled with men who cede the responsibility for guiding the family to their wives. Likewise, while some women are dominated by their husbands, others seek to “wear the pants” and control the relationship.  This is not God’s ideal, yet we have so quickly abandoned it! We are in desperate need of husbands and fathers who have the courage to stand upon the Word of God, men who honor their God-given responsibility to lead, guide, protect, and provide for their families. 

This situation with my friends reminds me of this this clip from Mark Driscoll.  It is very powerful!  He boldly confronts the men in his church, men who are neglecting, dishonoring, and abusing God’s daughters. This snippet is taken from his "Marriage and Men" sermon. Fed up with the havoc wreaked by men acting like boys, Driscoll calls out the men in his church, challenging them to grow up and treat women the way they are called to be treated. It is a very sobering message, and I'm sure many women wish the men in their lives had the ears to hear it.

Since the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve first fell in sin, the realm of marriage and family has been a raging battlefield.  Today, I believe the church has a responsibility to shepherd its flock, supporting and challenging its members and, when necessary, practicing loving church discipline.  Just as church leaders will be held accountable for how they shepherd their community, so too will husbands and wives.   My prayer is that God will give husbands the courage to seek accountability and provide the loving leadership God intended them to exercise, and wives the grace to respect and support their husbands.

Christ's Warriors and Satan's Attacks

Does Satan attack everyone equally? Well, why would Satan waste his limited time and effort on men and women who are already discouraged and defeated by sin?  Exactly.  He wouldn’t, for often in those cases, he has already won. Even if Satan can’t get a believer to openly reject God, he is content with lukewarmity, for it is here that men and women set aside their love and passion for God and grow increasingly content with the world.  Well then, who does Satan set his crosshairs on?  The answer then seems quite clear.  Satan is most intent on destroying those who through Christ are working the greatest damage against him—men and women who are living radical lives for God.   As William Gurnall said, "It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell; it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons."

Spiritual warfare does exist.  As soldiers for Christ, however, we do not flail wildly at an enemy we cannot see and cannot understand.  We have been equipped with the full armor of God.  Ephesians 6: 13-18 paints a beautiful picture of the Christian warrior:   “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.”

When God commanded us to stand firm in Him, He did not leave us to fend for ourselves.  No, we see here that God graciously equipped us for everything we need for battle.  Why is the believer called to be alert, however?  Is it not enough that we have all of God’s weapons at our fingertips? As believers, we are warned to remain alert because we are so easily taken captive by the lies of this world.  Yes, we have all the weapons we need for battle, but if we are not purposeful in putting them to use, we are simply like the girl playing dress-up in her grandmother’s attic—nothing fits, and though the priceless antiques give the appearance of age and maturity, they are nothing more than cheap playthings in the hands of this small child. The young child cannot appreciate the true value of the dresses, the strings of pearls and the heels, and so she plays about carelessly, unaware of the worth of these treasures.  We have been granted all we need to withstand the evil one, yet we must not become like the child who cannot appreciate the value of what she has been given.  For example, I know that the Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrew 4:12).  If, however, I am not diligent about spending time in the Word, pouring myself into it and seeking to be strengthened by it, there will come a time when I have fallen dull and weary.  It is here then that I am most vulnerable to Satan’s attacks, for apart from God’s Word seared into my heart as my source of Truth, I am easily deceived.

And so, what does all of this mean for me then?  If I am living a life of sin and compromise, I know that I am less likely to encounter Satan’s attacks. If I am purposefully living a life that honors Christ and impacts others, however, I can be sure that attacks will come.  However, I need not cower in fear, for in Christ I may stand tall and firm, confident that I have all the protection and weaponry I need to counter the attacks of the evil one.