Many Christians are waiting for Jesus to come and work things out when He has already given us the power and wherewithal to do so ourselves.
During World War II, history gives an account of occupied France; occupied Poland; occupied Greece and so on. The military sense of occupation is when one country intervenes another, either by force or by request, to neutralize, stabilize or control a given situation.
In today’s world, we are seeing too many fronts of extremism that are being met with little or no resistance. You know what they are! What’s known as ‘siege warfare’ is being played out like a pack of wolves surrounding their prey, bent on wearing it down so they can pounce in for the kill.
A siege is any prolonged effort to overcome resistance. Are you resisting anything in your life today, or just going along with the flow? If you have nothing worth standing for, you’ll fall for anything.
I once watched a documentary where a pride of hungry lions isolated and surrounded a helpless wildebeest, while the rest of the bewildered herd grunted and looked on from a distance. The lions went in one after another from all sides biting and clawing at the tortured, agonized prey in an attempt to wear it down as it cried out, kicked and bucked for survival.
Then suddenly, one angered wildebeest that must have felt enough-is-enough, charged from the herd to challenge the lions as others followed. Eventually, after a ferocious death-threatening standoff, the lions got the message and retreated.
Ever heard of the Seven Spheres of Influence – Religion, Family, Business, Media, Entertainment, Education and Government? Do you see your calling – your bailiwick – in one of those spheres? Do you see how the spirit of darkness is bent on toppling those spheres or realms that are so vital to our collective and long-term existence?
If you don’t see, then seek God – read His word and ask Him to reveal to you His standards; what He desires; and what you can do that would be well pleasing in His sight. As a Christian, you may be the only light in your circle of influence that can begin to chase away the dark.
If wildebeest know when enough-is-enough and act upon it, how much more should we be willing to act? Death would have been certain had those brave wildebeest just shrugged and said, “That’s just the way it is!”
In Matthew 13:29,30 [NIV], Jesus said in the parable of the wheat and tares (weeds), “…because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.”
Stand up Christians! Right now we are seeing so many weeds, but where, oh where, is the wheat!? God has issued each of us a calling and a gift to occupy a sphere of influence (Luke 19:13); what’s yours?
