Daniel Holdings – July 13, 2013
I awoke this morning to find that our refrigerator stopped working (we just 
bought groceries yesterday!)
More frustrating is that this is another expense on top of our car that was totaled a while back. We still haven’t had the money to replace that!
So now we “need” a fridge and we “need” a car! Like you, my first reaction is to ask, “God, why are you testing me like this?!”
In addition, tomorrow my wife has a doctor’s appointment to find out what the mass is that is growing inside of her. “Not another trial Lord!”
Distractions, distractions, distractions! All of these issues are important. They all seem pressing. Who could fault me for stopping this article right now and dealing with the needs? Yet, I was impressed by the Holy Spirit Himself to write this article. Do I listen to my flesh (my needs), or do I commit these problems to the Lord and press on with the direction that He has already given to me?
We all walk through life’s challenges and trials from time to time. In doing so, we are tempted to take our eyes off of the fight in front of us and look at our own situation. We pray, “Lord, please help me find that car that I need,” or “God, all my food is going to spoil! I need a fridge,” or “Jesus, please watch over my wife and heal her body!”
Jesus said that we have not because we ask not. And when we do ask, we ask for the wrong things! (amiss) But what about these situations? Surely, Jesus wasn’t talking about these things. He loves me and I have needs. All I’m doing is bringing those needs to Him… right?
The Christian’s existence on this 3D rock that we call Earth is bound to be wrought with problems. We are captured by this existence, and our needs, but are told that our citizenship is “not of this world”. Scripture says that we are in a spiritual war and that even our weapons are not of this realm. Yet, today I sure felt like I got my backside handed to me by the devil. All of these pressing problems made it hard to focus on the task that God had given me. So I had to ask myself, was I being a pertinent, relative member of the Remnant or… was I being distracted?
Shifting my focus from the raging supernatural battle around me to concentrate on the earthly issues burdening me is somewhat akin to the soldier in the middle of a firefight on the frontline, stopping what he was doing to take a call from home. Just picture it:
Daniel: “Oh, hi honey. I’m a little busy now…” Bullets can be heard whizzing over my head. Explosions are booming in the background.
Wife: “I’m sorry to bother you dear at work, but the refrigerator has gone out and all our food is spoiling!”
Of course the illustration is ridiculous, but that is exactly the point. If we are to take scripture literally, and I do, this is exactly what is happening. This is a fierce battle and people are dying all around! We just don’t see it with our earthly eyes and we never “hear the bullets” or explosions. This supernatural war is occurring in dimensions that are not seen. But that war is every bit as real as our fridge, our car and our spouse’s health.
Most Believers approach life’s problems by seeing them through earthly, not spiritual, eyes. But hold on… remember, we aren’t from here! And secondly, we forget that most, if not all, problems in life are thrown at us by a devil that is trying, and succeeding in most cases, to DISTRACT us from the real war!
So effective is this technique of distraction that most Believers routinely have problems throughout their life and never fight effectively on the frontline. In the end, this behavior, by the majority of the Remnant, weakens the Body of Christ! Even if our problems and issues are real, they are still a distraction!
In Matthew 13:22, Jesus talked about the “cares of this world”, or 
distraction, that chokes out the truth of the Gospel. So in a moment of honest reflection, consider the distractions in your life. Are they choking out what the God of the Universe wants to do with you in the middle of this raging battle? Are you fully engaged in the unseen dimensional/spiritual war raging around you or – are you distracted?
If after this self-evaluation you find, like the author, that you have fallen short in your spiritual war duties, here are some simple steps that can help you get back on track and give you freedom from future attacks of the enemy.
1) Repent! Let the Lord know, that you know, you’ve been distracted. Ask Him to forgive you,
2) Fervently commit your issues to the Lord one by one. Make sure that they are not wants, i.e. “Lord, please give me a Mercedes to replace our wrecked car…”
3) Through the Holy Spirit, if He gives you practical, immediate things to do about your situation or issue, do them without question, no matter how silly it sounds. If not… wait. Don’t try to go off and use your own knowledge, connections or understanding to fix the problem. If you truly want to follow Him – then FOLLOW HIM! That doesn’t mean taking matters into your own hands and asking Him to bless your efforts after the fact.
4) Then stop dwelling on the problems. Stop complaining to Him about it. Stop whining. Stop begging. If you know Him, and He is your Lord, then you also know that He loves you and is committed to the best for your life – If you walk with Him. He wants you to ask, but in faith. If you do that, then trust Him to work out your problems. Your faith in action is that you “know” He’s going to work them out and are not fearful of any other outcome. Thank Him for already taking care of the issue(s).
5) Get back to the fight! Pray for other people’s needs. Pray for the Kingdom of God to be advanced. Pray that He is glorified. Do those things that He gave you to do before you were distracted. In doing so, you begin to show the devil that he can’t manipulate you through problems in life. That’s because when he tries, you only draw closer to the Lord and become more effective in His kingdom!
At this “end of age,” we who are sealed by The Blood of the Lamb can expect life to get… extremely complicated. It is in life’s everyday fight, that we drill into our hearts and mind – faith! Training for that faith will serve us well as we find ourselves on that frontline of the battle that is sure to come.
[As a side note – It’s taken the better part of the afternoon to write this article. Distractions, like exploding ordinance, have been launched by the enemy from all sides. Although those distractions had to be briefly dealt with, this author made it a point to keep coming back to the computer to finish this message. In doing so, I’ve continued the fight through. And God, in his graciousness just provided us a new refrigerator – nicer than the one that broke this morning!]
Fight on to be Relative!
Fight on Remnant!
Pray, trust and do what God has given you to do!
Be Salt & Light to a dying world.
And never forget…
This is war!