The Battle Belongs to the Lord
Every other year I get to read through the book The Screwtape Letters with a class of 9th & 10th graders. This tiny but powerful book by C.S. Lewis follows the correspondence of a senior demon (Screwtape) writing to advise a junior demon (Wormwood) about how to keep his human “patient” away from the truth, God, and living his life as a Christian.
In case you don’t know this, 9th & 10th graders are amazing thinkers. They always have interesting perspectives and great insight into the books we read. It’s fun to watch their brains at work decoding the messages of the authors and figuring out how the truths they find apply to their lives.
The Screwtape Letters is no exception. They notice and wonder about many of the intricacies of the plot of the book. But one comment from a student last year caught my attention. She said, “No matter what happens in the patient’s life, Screwtape always has a plan on how to mess it up and distract him. It’s like he’s never out of ideas.”
My dear friends, this is very sad and very true, and it’s fantastic that a 16-year-old is wise to it this early in her life. The enemy is never out of ideas on how to distract us and discourage us. He hates us and he’s always prowling. The Bible is full of words like battle, armor, soldier, war, and fight, not because they’re strong metaphors and similes but because this is the very real situation in which we live. So how do we handle this?
C.S. Lewis says, “Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” And the Old Testament is war story after war story for the same reason. Stories of victory give us hope. They remind us that while there are armies against us we don’t need to be afraid. Our God is always working for us and protecting us. We only need to trust Him and wait on His timing.
This past week I received a sucker-punch from the enemy. And while I struggled to regain my breath for the first few days, I experienced a little of that reality of Screwtape never being out of ideas. I won’t lie it was really hard for my type-A, I’ll just take care of it attitude to sit on my hands (and my knees) and wait for God to do all the work. And I do mean ALL. Friends were praying, and I was praying, but that was absolutely the ONLY thing we could do.
How grateful I was for friends who, like Aaron & Hur who held Moses’ arms in battle, held me up in prayer. How thankful I was for the stories in the Old Testament of God taking care of the giant armies before the Israelites even suited up. Waiting is one of the hardest things for me. You are probably the same way. It’s not an accident that “Wait on the Lord” is repeated over and over in Scriptures. But waiting isn’t passive. It takes a lot of effort to keep your focus on the Lord and not on the storm. Life doesn’t stop while the battle rages. The whispers of doubt and fear creep in and we must be armed with His word for those attacks.
Even though it’s hard, waiting does come with blessings. We don’t always get the answer we think we want, but we always get what God wants for us. While I waited I went back and forth between two opposite scenarios and I honestly couldn’t tell you which one I really wanted to happen. Not being able to choose but knowing that God would choose was probably the biggest comfort of all. In the end, knowing that He chose the outcome brought a peace that can’t be explained. And He not only chose the outcome He worked out Every. Single. Detail. There were so many moving pieces that I was overwhelmed even thinking about it.
Recently I read something about the verse Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” The Hebrew word for “plan” in this verse isn’t easy to translate. It actually means intricate, delicate, skillful weaving. How interesting! Weaving involves thousands of tiny threads that must be worked together just right to create a beautiful pattern. I was so excited when I read that because it reminded me of my favorite lines from Beowulf:
“But the Lord was weaving
A victory on His war-loom for the Weather-Geats.
Through the strength of one they all prevailed;
They would crush their enemy and come through
In triumph and gladness. The truth is clear:
Almighty God rules over mankind
And always has.”
What amazing word pictures!
I never want to experience again the stress of this past week, but this world is fallen and Screwtape will always have a trick up his slimy sleeve. If you’ve been sucker punched recently and are catching your breath too, be encouraged today. God also never takes a break, and He knows all the details of what needs to be done. He’s always working things for our good and His glory. See things with your spiritual eyes. Remember our God is the Captain of angelic hosts, He’s the one Who speaks and stops the storm, and He’s weaving a victory for you on His war-loom. All you need to do is wait.
Micah 7:7 “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”