God's "Punishments" and Spiritual Warfare
So often, we have been taught that spiritual warfare is about temptation to sin, to do something we know we shouldn't do. I believe this can be a part of our spiritual battle, but it is far from the whole. I believe that the idea of spiritual warfare existing as temptation is rooted in theologies and interpretations of Scripture that emphasize our holy lifestyles, our "sanctification process." But this interpretation limits the real battle to the extent that when we go through intense warfare that really has little or nothing to do with temptation to sin, we have no idea how to fight.
Spiritual warfare is so much more than a temptation to sin. It often involves misery in the deepest sense of the word. Satan takes our deepest human emotions - the emotions God has given us through creating us in His own image - and uses them against us. He uses our love for others. He uses our concern for our own and others' well-being. He uses our longing to live a life pleasing to God. He uses our loneliness.
I think of Nathanael, my nine-year old son. Last year, Nathanael went through depression. One of our cats that he was very close to died unexpectedly. His love for Garfield sent him into a deep grief. This grief led to stomach aches, which led us to the doctor. A doctor that was not his regular pediatrician. She was extremely blunt in her opinions and told me (and him) that he may need blood work done at his next appointment.
That did it. I remember reading a Beth Moore teaching once about how one of Satan's schemes is to cause us to worry about our future. She referred to Haman in the time of Esther. He issued an edict to kill all of the Jews months before the date that he actually planned his execution. This gave them time to think about it. This is how it was with Nathanael. He thought about it. This thinking made him afraid to do anything. He would not even eat his favorite foods for fear he may get a stomach ache.
A few days later, after another bout of stomach pain, we made a visit to our emergency room. The doctor there really helped to put his mind at ease. She told him he had to eat and empathized with his hurt over losing Garfield. A later doctor's appointment for my other son also helped. After explaining to him the entire situation, I asked the doctor (not the same one as above) if he could talk with Nathanael. He did. After having two different doctors talk with him, Nathanael felt a wave of relief. A new kitten also helped him focus his love on something new. We (Nathanael and I) spent a lot of time using play therapy techniques, learning that it is okay to talk about how much we love and miss Garfield. At the same time, we know he is with God and is perfectly happy. Nathanael decided when he grows up, he wants to help sick cats. He's always wanted to be a scientist. But now he has a focus - a focus he has continuously worked on from that point.
I truly believe Nathanael encountered a spiritual attack during this period. It was not the first time, believe it or not. Nathanael experienced his first spiritual battle just before his third birthday. A beloved, favorite toy had disappeared. Nathanael was devastated. This may seem like a trivial, everyday lesson for a toddler to learn. This is also how I viewed it - until almost two weeks later when we discovered a spiritual entity had taken the toy. My sister commanded the entity to give the toy back in the Name of Jesus. It did. The toy reappeared before her eyes.
My point in sharing these stories is to show that Nathanael had not sinned in either instance. In the first battle, he was not even old enough to understand Satan or spiritual warfare. Both times, the devil was playing on his love and concern for something other than himself. This is a primary way the devil has often attacked me. Perhaps you can relate.
Unfortunately, the advice we receive in Christian circles often places blame upon the victim.
Ironically, what is believed to be the oldest Book in the Bible records this type of "christian" (little c, because it is not at all like Christ) reasoning.
In the Old Testament Book of Job, we find Job received unwelcome advice from his friends who had come to "comfort" and "encourage" him after his great losses. Just read the words of Job's friend Eliphaz:
"Remember now, who ever persisted in being innocent? Or where is the upright ever cut off? Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His anger they are consumed" (Job 4:7-9, NKJV).
In short, Job's friends keep telling him, "You have done something wrong that offended God. You are being punished!"
I believe this may have been what these men had been taught growing up. Perhaps they had been taught God only allows trials to befall the unjust. Or, perhaps, more accurately, that God blesses you if you obey Him.
Of course, I am speculating. Actually, I am applying some popular Christian doctrines in our world today to Job's friends. These ideologies affect how we think. Allow me to elaborate.
How many of us, when we experience trial and suffering, automatically begin mentally playing back ways we may have offended God? After all, how often have we heard that God punishes countries that have turned their back on Him (due to whatever is the most controversial topic of the day) by sending natural disasters? I have even heard "christian" (again, small c for the same reason) teachings that say God gives people diseases because they have offended Him. We are so determined to focus on the wrath and punishment of God that we overlook His grace and mercy - or at least, we redefine it. We often used Old Testament "evidence" to back our case, forgetting that Jesus fulfilled the old covenant of the Law and ushered in the new covenant of grace.
Please allow me to use a common interpretation of a miracle of Jesus to illustrate how jaded we can become in our viewpoint of God's punishment.
"After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
"Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?'
"The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.'
"Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.' And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked" (John 5:1-9a).
Walk with me, if you will, through this Passage. So often, we read these Verses and think, "That lazy bum is too lazy to even try to get into the pool. That's why Jesus had to rebuke him and ask him if he even wanted to be healed."
Let's rewind for a moment. This man had been lying on this porch for thirty-eight years. I ask you, did you read any reference to a friend or family member being here with him? This man was paralyzed. He was physically ill. And no one - no one - was there with him. Instead of judging this man as being lazy, perhaps Jesus saw to the heart of the matter. Perhaps this man needed the encouragement of Jesus asking if he wanted to be healed. After all, no one else had asked him if he needed help. We are told of no one else who cared enough. But Jesus did.
As soon as the man explained his predicament, Jesus did not tell him to stop whining and making excuses. He healed him. Notice the "lazy" man did not argue. He got up and walked. He had been given the encouragement, the physical healing, and the emotional healing that only someone caring enough to take action could bring.
Jesus did not use our "christian" logic by saying, "God must be punishing you because you are sinful... lazy... crazy..." whatever. Jesus met his need.
All to often, Christianity teaches us to see the worst in people. Jesus, on the other hand, sees the best. What a contradiction! What a conflict! "Choose whom you will serve" kind of takes an enhanced meaning here. Do we choose to serve the God of wrath and punishment or the God of grace and mercy? Let us remember, mercy triumphs over judgment.
The purpose of our trials is not punishment. It is patience, faith, and perseverance. The devil wants us to think the opposite. One of his greatest weapons is deception - causing us to think about ourselves, about others (either Christian or not - just so long as we are judging them), and about God what is not true.
"My brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Instead we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord - that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful" (James 5:10-11).
Spiritual warfare is so much more than a temptation to sin. It often involves misery in the deepest sense of the word. Satan takes our deepest human emotions - the emotions God has given us through creating us in His own image - and uses them against us. He uses our love for others. He uses our concern for our own and others' well-being. He uses our longing to live a life pleasing to God. He uses our loneliness.
I think of Nathanael, my nine-year old son. Last year, Nathanael went through depression. One of our cats that he was very close to died unexpectedly. His love for Garfield sent him into a deep grief. This grief led to stomach aches, which led us to the doctor. A doctor that was not his regular pediatrician. She was extremely blunt in her opinions and told me (and him) that he may need blood work done at his next appointment.
That did it. I remember reading a Beth Moore teaching once about how one of Satan's schemes is to cause us to worry about our future. She referred to Haman in the time of Esther. He issued an edict to kill all of the Jews months before the date that he actually planned his execution. This gave them time to think about it. This is how it was with Nathanael. He thought about it. This thinking made him afraid to do anything. He would not even eat his favorite foods for fear he may get a stomach ache.
A few days later, after another bout of stomach pain, we made a visit to our emergency room. The doctor there really helped to put his mind at ease. She told him he had to eat and empathized with his hurt over losing Garfield. A later doctor's appointment for my other son also helped. After explaining to him the entire situation, I asked the doctor (not the same one as above) if he could talk with Nathanael. He did. After having two different doctors talk with him, Nathanael felt a wave of relief. A new kitten also helped him focus his love on something new. We (Nathanael and I) spent a lot of time using play therapy techniques, learning that it is okay to talk about how much we love and miss Garfield. At the same time, we know he is with God and is perfectly happy. Nathanael decided when he grows up, he wants to help sick cats. He's always wanted to be a scientist. But now he has a focus - a focus he has continuously worked on from that point.
I truly believe Nathanael encountered a spiritual attack during this period. It was not the first time, believe it or not. Nathanael experienced his first spiritual battle just before his third birthday. A beloved, favorite toy had disappeared. Nathanael was devastated. This may seem like a trivial, everyday lesson for a toddler to learn. This is also how I viewed it - until almost two weeks later when we discovered a spiritual entity had taken the toy. My sister commanded the entity to give the toy back in the Name of Jesus. It did. The toy reappeared before her eyes.
My point in sharing these stories is to show that Nathanael had not sinned in either instance. In the first battle, he was not even old enough to understand Satan or spiritual warfare. Both times, the devil was playing on his love and concern for something other than himself. This is a primary way the devil has often attacked me. Perhaps you can relate.
Unfortunately, the advice we receive in Christian circles often places blame upon the victim.
Ironically, what is believed to be the oldest Book in the Bible records this type of "christian" (little c, because it is not at all like Christ) reasoning.
In the Old Testament Book of Job, we find Job received unwelcome advice from his friends who had come to "comfort" and "encourage" him after his great losses. Just read the words of Job's friend Eliphaz:
"Remember now, who ever persisted in being innocent? Or where is the upright ever cut off? Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His anger they are consumed" (Job 4:7-9, NKJV).
In short, Job's friends keep telling him, "You have done something wrong that offended God. You are being punished!"
I believe this may have been what these men had been taught growing up. Perhaps they had been taught God only allows trials to befall the unjust. Or, perhaps, more accurately, that God blesses you if you obey Him.
Of course, I am speculating. Actually, I am applying some popular Christian doctrines in our world today to Job's friends. These ideologies affect how we think. Allow me to elaborate.
How many of us, when we experience trial and suffering, automatically begin mentally playing back ways we may have offended God? After all, how often have we heard that God punishes countries that have turned their back on Him (due to whatever is the most controversial topic of the day) by sending natural disasters? I have even heard "christian" (again, small c for the same reason) teachings that say God gives people diseases because they have offended Him. We are so determined to focus on the wrath and punishment of God that we overlook His grace and mercy - or at least, we redefine it. We often used Old Testament "evidence" to back our case, forgetting that Jesus fulfilled the old covenant of the Law and ushered in the new covenant of grace.
Please allow me to use a common interpretation of a miracle of Jesus to illustrate how jaded we can become in our viewpoint of God's punishment.
"After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
"Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?'
"The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.'
"Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.' And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked" (John 5:1-9a).
Walk with me, if you will, through this Passage. So often, we read these Verses and think, "That lazy bum is too lazy to even try to get into the pool. That's why Jesus had to rebuke him and ask him if he even wanted to be healed."
Let's rewind for a moment. This man had been lying on this porch for thirty-eight years. I ask you, did you read any reference to a friend or family member being here with him? This man was paralyzed. He was physically ill. And no one - no one - was there with him. Instead of judging this man as being lazy, perhaps Jesus saw to the heart of the matter. Perhaps this man needed the encouragement of Jesus asking if he wanted to be healed. After all, no one else had asked him if he needed help. We are told of no one else who cared enough. But Jesus did.
As soon as the man explained his predicament, Jesus did not tell him to stop whining and making excuses. He healed him. Notice the "lazy" man did not argue. He got up and walked. He had been given the encouragement, the physical healing, and the emotional healing that only someone caring enough to take action could bring.
Jesus did not use our "christian" logic by saying, "God must be punishing you because you are sinful... lazy... crazy..." whatever. Jesus met his need.
All to often, Christianity teaches us to see the worst in people. Jesus, on the other hand, sees the best. What a contradiction! What a conflict! "Choose whom you will serve" kind of takes an enhanced meaning here. Do we choose to serve the God of wrath and punishment or the God of grace and mercy? Let us remember, mercy triumphs over judgment.
The purpose of our trials is not punishment. It is patience, faith, and perseverance. The devil wants us to think the opposite. One of his greatest weapons is deception - causing us to think about ourselves, about others (either Christian or not - just so long as we are judging them), and about God what is not true.
"My brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Instead we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord - that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful" (James 5:10-11).
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