Real Darkness Falls
Matthew 6:23 -- "But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!"
The very faint movie score plays gently in the background as we take a deep breath. Ripley tucks Newt tenderly into a make-shift bed and rubs her cheek. We are about to connect with these two characters anew and while we have already invested in them and the relationship they have with each other, we enjoy this tender moment - enjoy the reprieve from the monumental battle with a very nasty alien species. Our shoulders relax just a bit and our clutch seems to loosen on our pop corn. And then it's out. Newt says: "My mother always told me there were no monsters. No real ones. But there are." [from the movie Aliens]
Ripley has no choice in this moment but to agree. Of course there are real monsters. Why do we tell children that there aren't? ...especially if you've been bought by Christ and know for a fact that there are?
Maybe it's because I grew up a missionary kid in a land full of real monsters that I could see for myself, but my kids were raised knowing there are, indeed, real monsters. Now don't worry, I didn't sit them down at the ripe 'ole age of two and explain things to them - but as they have grown in Christ - they have also grown in armor. I feel whole-heartedly that being properly prepared for battle is essential. And I guess Ripley felt the same way when she told Newt that, yes, unfortunately, there are real monsters.
There are two cases I feel lead to share with you this morning. I cannot name names and I share what I'm about to share with you because I think this Monster has learned to worm it's way in past all of our spiritual defenses and SOMETHING has to be done about it.
Real darkness has fallen on two women I know since I have moved out here to Saint Johns. I'm not saying the move was significant - I can't say that and I won't - but for a frame of reference, there you have it. It's been during the time span of a single year that I have seen these two things happen.
Depression. A very real, very dark monster. And scary, because it can really creep up on you before you even know what's happened.
One woman - who NEVER finds a moment in her own life when she can't shout out "GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!" - found herself at a loss for words. She, for the first time in her life, just could not see past the dark. She, a lot like most of us who have grown up steeped in memory verses, Bible stories, and victories passed down through hymns and other stories, KNOWS all the answers. She knows scripture. She knows to take captive every thought [II Cor. 10:5]. She KNEW these things, but was so deeply trapped in the darkness that the answers weren't enough. They didn't seem to be of any help.
The second woman - much like the first, knew all the Bible verses and was, in fact wearing her spiritual armor when she took an exacto blade into the bath tub with her fully intending to end her life there. She, too - knew to take captive every thought and had, in fact, prayed those exact words. And much like the first woman, the knowledge and the scripture didn't seem to be of any help.
I am happy to say that both of these women lived to fight another day - but let me also tell you that there are many Christian people out there who have been in these two situations who aren't around to fight anymore. What can we do? In the bowls of that space ship miles away from anywhere when there really isn't anybody to hear you scream - how do we take the next step and pick up our guns to stand against insurmountable odds? We know that in the next scene - even though we just ended a battle and barely made it out with our lives - we are going to have to stand up and fight again. What if we just don't have the strength to do it? What if we just don't care anymore?
Well, here is where it gets tricky.
One of these woman said - "I just kept showing up." She really didn't WANT to show up. She was madder than a hornet when she DID show up, but she did SHOW UP. She was tired. She didn't want to fight the darkness anymore. So, she went into autopilot and simply went through the motions. She wasn't sure that she'd do it again tomorrow. She wasn't sure that after she showed up she wouldn't leave again and stop fighting the battle. But for that one moment -- she just simply showed up.
Matthew says it loud and clear. If the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
And it can get pretty stinkin' dark. And THAT's how Satan wins. Not only do we fail to see the light at the end of the darkness, but since we are in the midst of such pitch black, the light at the end of the darkness isn't light at all, just slightly less dark. When our eyes are bad, our whole body is filled with darkness.
Maybe.....grab a friend with a flashlight. Don't sit in the tepid bath water with a razor blade even though that's what you really WANT to do. If you give in and Satan chalks up another point on the score board - he's gonna be pretty darn happy. He'll be glad that, while you are saved and will get to see Jesus, you aren't on this earth any longer to do anybody else much good. You can't share your Master's joy.
The darkness is going down. Satan has already lost. His goal, is to take as many with him as he possibly can. We don't need to give him any help in that regard. If for no other reason than to stick out your tongue in absolute defiance - grab your oozie, set up your turrates, don your battered armor and beg a friend for his/her wrist communicator. Just show up for the next scene.
Matthew 6:22 says: "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light."
Do you, right now, have bad eyes? GRAB SOME GLASSES! If you just don't have any.....borrow some from a friend that does. But please.....just keep showing up. This too, shall pass.
The very faint movie score plays gently in the background as we take a deep breath. Ripley tucks Newt tenderly into a make-shift bed and rubs her cheek. We are about to connect with these two characters anew and while we have already invested in them and the relationship they have with each other, we enjoy this tender moment - enjoy the reprieve from the monumental battle with a very nasty alien species. Our shoulders relax just a bit and our clutch seems to loosen on our pop corn. And then it's out. Newt says: "My mother always told me there were no monsters. No real ones. But there are." [from the movie Aliens]
Ripley has no choice in this moment but to agree. Of course there are real monsters. Why do we tell children that there aren't? ...especially if you've been bought by Christ and know for a fact that there are?
Maybe it's because I grew up a missionary kid in a land full of real monsters that I could see for myself, but my kids were raised knowing there are, indeed, real monsters. Now don't worry, I didn't sit them down at the ripe 'ole age of two and explain things to them - but as they have grown in Christ - they have also grown in armor. I feel whole-heartedly that being properly prepared for battle is essential. And I guess Ripley felt the same way when she told Newt that, yes, unfortunately, there are real monsters.
There are two cases I feel lead to share with you this morning. I cannot name names and I share what I'm about to share with you because I think this Monster has learned to worm it's way in past all of our spiritual defenses and SOMETHING has to be done about it.
Real darkness has fallen on two women I know since I have moved out here to Saint Johns. I'm not saying the move was significant - I can't say that and I won't - but for a frame of reference, there you have it. It's been during the time span of a single year that I have seen these two things happen.
Depression. A very real, very dark monster. And scary, because it can really creep up on you before you even know what's happened.
One woman - who NEVER finds a moment in her own life when she can't shout out "GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!" - found herself at a loss for words. She, for the first time in her life, just could not see past the dark. She, a lot like most of us who have grown up steeped in memory verses, Bible stories, and victories passed down through hymns and other stories, KNOWS all the answers. She knows scripture. She knows to take captive every thought [II Cor. 10:5]. She KNEW these things, but was so deeply trapped in the darkness that the answers weren't enough. They didn't seem to be of any help.
The second woman - much like the first, knew all the Bible verses and was, in fact wearing her spiritual armor when she took an exacto blade into the bath tub with her fully intending to end her life there. She, too - knew to take captive every thought and had, in fact, prayed those exact words. And much like the first woman, the knowledge and the scripture didn't seem to be of any help.
I am happy to say that both of these women lived to fight another day - but let me also tell you that there are many Christian people out there who have been in these two situations who aren't around to fight anymore. What can we do? In the bowls of that space ship miles away from anywhere when there really isn't anybody to hear you scream - how do we take the next step and pick up our guns to stand against insurmountable odds? We know that in the next scene - even though we just ended a battle and barely made it out with our lives - we are going to have to stand up and fight again. What if we just don't have the strength to do it? What if we just don't care anymore?
Well, here is where it gets tricky.
One of these woman said - "I just kept showing up." She really didn't WANT to show up. She was madder than a hornet when she DID show up, but she did SHOW UP. She was tired. She didn't want to fight the darkness anymore. So, she went into autopilot and simply went through the motions. She wasn't sure that she'd do it again tomorrow. She wasn't sure that after she showed up she wouldn't leave again and stop fighting the battle. But for that one moment -- she just simply showed up.
Matthew says it loud and clear. If the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
And it can get pretty stinkin' dark. And THAT's how Satan wins. Not only do we fail to see the light at the end of the darkness, but since we are in the midst of such pitch black, the light at the end of the darkness isn't light at all, just slightly less dark. When our eyes are bad, our whole body is filled with darkness.
Maybe.....grab a friend with a flashlight. Don't sit in the tepid bath water with a razor blade even though that's what you really WANT to do. If you give in and Satan chalks up another point on the score board - he's gonna be pretty darn happy. He'll be glad that, while you are saved and will get to see Jesus, you aren't on this earth any longer to do anybody else much good. You can't share your Master's joy.
The darkness is going down. Satan has already lost. His goal, is to take as many with him as he possibly can. We don't need to give him any help in that regard. If for no other reason than to stick out your tongue in absolute defiance - grab your oozie, set up your turrates, don your battered armor and beg a friend for his/her wrist communicator. Just show up for the next scene.Matthew 6:22 says: "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light."
Do you, right now, have bad eyes? GRAB SOME GLASSES! If you just don't have any.....borrow some from a friend that does. But please.....just keep showing up. This too, shall pass.
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