Are these words familiar? "God is bigger than the boogie man. He's bigger than Godzilla and the monsters on TV. Oh, God is bigger than the boogie man, and he's watching out for you and me!" If not, you probably aren't around kids enough =). This is a popular Veggie Tales song called, God is Bigger. The song is silly but very powerful if you think about it.
Unlike what Monsters Inc would have us believe, there are no monsters in our closets or under our beds. We all know there is no such thing as the boogie man. However, some of us--namely me--love to get scared. I admit to being a fan of the horror genre. It is becoming more and more of a challenge to have a truly scary movie anymore (blood bath movies aren't scary--just gross). You know, one that makes you look behind your back even after the movie's happy (or not so) ending. You still can't get me to watch a Chucky movie. The doll thing hits a little too close to my childhood.
Fortunately, the world is not secretly full of vampires, zombies, werewolves and the like. UNfortunately, Satan and his demons are real. Hollywood likes to blow up these threats to unrealistic standards, creating a false security that demons only act in extraordinary ways or possess people. We, regular people, are safe. NOPE. I Peter 5:8-9 says otherwise: "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. (emphasis added)" Christians EVERYWHERE are being attacked. What are we to do???
Let's go back to the silly, but powerful song above. Although I believe we need to be aware of the spiritual warfare around us--Peter said to stay alert and stand firm--we do not need to fear. Christ has already become our conqueror. Ephesians 1:21-22 states, "Now [Jesus] is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else--not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church."
So how to we stand firm? Ephesians 6:10-18 is the manual you need to be prepared. Put on the armor of God: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the word. These things must be in your life, fixed to your person so that you can resist the devil. Remember that the only weapon is the word of God. All else is for defense.
Think of the Bible as bug spray. Last night I had to defeat a huge spider in my house. I was frightened (yeah, I know...horror movies don't scare me enough but spiders do...sigh), but I ran to the cabinet and grabbed my bug spray. After the first squirt, that eight-legged monster fled, but I kept pulling the trigger and it finally died. That's sort of how the Word works. Jesus used it to make Satan back off. So can we. =)
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ReplyDeleteGreat message. Though certain types of fear is good (i.e. the Fear of the Lord) the fear you're referring to is known in the Greek as Deilia and it's the kind of fear that motivates us to inaction. Any fear that moves us to inaction fails to take into account that the book of Romans reminds us that "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Christ's death made this possible and if someone is indeed moved to inaction because of fear, they are indeed not living in light of the Cross. Thanks Becca for, once again, sharing God's wisdom through your writings. It's always a blessing.
ReplyDeleteFun Fact: The boogie man song is, with the exception of the theme song, the first song ever sung on veggie tales (and also the most memorable in my mind).