March 14 – Not Alarmed . . . At All

“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . in no way alarmed by your opponents – which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that, too, from God.” (Philippians 1:27…28)

Here is something we may know from the start of our spiritual warfare. In the Lord Jesus Christ, it is monastically exhilarating when the Word of God puts our weapons on display. Something like when James Bond would be shown how to blow up an enemy tanker with his cigarette case.

We saw yesterday that if we will resist the enemy, he will flee.

Let’s practice good monastic honesty. Do we often think like that?

Do we more often resist, or resent? Resist, or recreate? Resist, or retreat?

Resistance can be as simple and effective as gratitude in the face of disappointment, and it can be as difficult as forgiveness in the face of betrayal. To take another honest look, some, out of their disappointment, have never known another grateful day.

Yet all the while, the enemy trembles, his eye on our cigarette case . . . well, that may not be the best example we could use, but when we refuse to surrender our peace, when we maintain our confidence in the goodness of God and resist the taunting lies of the spiritual emissaries of wickedness … WHOOSH! . . . they see the freight train of the FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST heading straight for them.


"On the Right Track"
photo by Kerry