Wake up sleepers

Have I fallen asleep? Have I let this world’s distractions and attacks from the enemy blur my vision?

I woke this morning to a voice note from one of the South Africans I’ve stayed in contact with. Yesterday we shared the sufferings we are both experiencing.

It brought to mind the scripture I memorized last week, 1 Peter 5:6-11:

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.

Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your family of believers in the world.

May the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you.”

The same sufferings are experienced by our family of believers, here- but also everywhere. We are responsible and are called to pray for one another.

She sent a beautiful prayer to me, and before I went to bed, I recited the armor of God in a voice note to her, praying it over her.n

Listening to her response this morning was like a veil being removed, my heart grew sore, and I smiled the first genuine smile I’ve had in weeks. She was crying, overcome with the presence of the Holy Spirit, about how moved she was to hear me recite from memory, the Word of God. She said it’s a gift from God that I can memorize His Word. That we can speak words of life, how we bear the fruit and have the power in our tongue.

The way she talks about Satan is also eye-opening to me. She said, “Satan, one day, we will stand in victory over him, and his lies, all the things he wants to break and steal”. She gets mad at him and will talk about him like he’s an irritating neighbor, which I appreciate. She also prays with such authority. One of her prayers was, “I bind the works of Satan and I rebuke them in the name of Jesus Christ. I declare that the works of Satan have no strength at all in the name of Jesus Christ. God gave us the authority to walk on scorpions and snakes.”

For a moment, my heart and mind were in the same posture as they are when I’m on a mission trip, or shortly after, when I realize what truly matters. Like leaving the human body, with its cares and concerns, for a brief moment, being heaven minded. Like seeing the world from God’s point of view. My desire is to hold onto this, it makes me want to get on an airplane now, and go to South Africa. But I know I can’t go somewhere to capture it, it’s a mindset, a gaze Yes, going on mission trips help relight that fire within me and helps refocus my gaze, which is why I will go on at least one per year. But I need to learn how to keep this, or at least access it more easily and frequently.

Prior to writing this, I was listening to a devotional focused on 1 Corinthians 15. What my eyes were led to was, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-” I Corinthians 15:51

How to be in the world, but not of it? I don’t know what’s more difficult than that.n

Right now my eyes are open, I am awake. It makes me think of the disciples in Gethsemane, while Jesus was praying before His crucifixion. They kept falling asleep when something really important was about to take place.

I think that’s what’s going on now. Something really important is about to take place and we are all falling asleep.