Fighting in Peace
As we are now only two weeks before the election, I want to shift into a more prayerful, less teaching-like mode. I want to turn unto the Lord in a spirit of repentance. Some of the sins we will be naming and turning from may or may not be ours. At least we are capable of them. Like Daniel, we can as priests represent these sins before God and repent of them on behalf of our fellow humanity.
I want to address and repent this day on behalf of the foolish striving we as Christians conceive when we undertake a battle such as this. We can begin in the Spirit and end up in the flesh! (“Trying to attain the goal by human effort”, Gal. 3:3) We do this when we take our eyes off the Lord, the Creator of marriage, and the One who will be true to His image in humanity.
Having assumed God’s burden in our own strength, we become nasty toward people, like the gay community and its allies. As if our disgust at misdirected movements will fulfill God’s purposes! We must stay mindful at all times that the enemy is the enemy. Satan’s deceptive, destructive power to blind fellow image-bearers should alone be the object of our wrath.
Our anger at people does not ‘bring about the righteous life that God desires’ (James 1:20). We look to God and ask that He would vanquish His enemy. He loves His human image far more than we; we look to Him to open blind eyes and to release His people to stand in this hour on behalf of love: His love for both marriage and those who rail against it.
The Psalmist declares: “Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
With God, we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies.”(Ps 108:12,3)
In these days, I am caught between high hopes for marriage and the future of CA, and a fear of the relentless advance of an immoralist agenda there if God’s people don’t act. That fear, perhaps a fusion of holy dread and neurotic anxiety, causes me to cast myself on Him. And He meets me beautifully through His Word.
He has given me an awesome peace in this battle—the overarching assurance that He is in control and that His will for marriage will prevail. He spoke to me through Psalm 37:“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desire of your hearts. Commit your way to the Lord, and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” (vs. 4-7)
So I wait, deepening trust in Him amid the battle that will culminate at the polls. My hope is in Him, the author and finisher of marriage. I can rest in the One who has already won the war on behalf of His image in humanity. He invites me into the peaceful assurance of that victory.
A few weeks ago, my friend Dean gave me these verses. They are a seal over my soul that guards me from unholy fear. God spoke through his prophet to a small army defending Jerusalem that awaited the advance of opposing forces, much greater in size. He said: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s…Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance that the Lord will give you.” (2Chron. 20: 15, 17)
Honor marriage peacefully for the good of all. Vote YES on Proposition 8.
“O God forgive us for the ways we fight battles in our own broken humanity. Forgive us for representing You poorly in our vain striving, a strife in which we target mere men as the enemy. And forgive us for ungodly fear. We look to You for strength and peace and clarity—You who alone authored Your image and You who will be faithful to defend and vindicate it. Help us merely to do our part; help us to be still and listen, that we might act according to Your will, O God. Having won the war, O God, we await Your victory in this particular battle for marriage in CA.”
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