Big Foot Sightings

This blog is about the affects of prayer and how powerful prayer is. Satan HATES prayer. He hates open communication. He hates truth. He lives in darkness, deceit and lies. And prayer is the opposite of those things. And when we seek God through prayer... well... read on and see my thoughts on that!

OK, so we have ALL seen the clips on TV--the redneck on the local news who has spotted Big Foot in his back yard. Usually, he’s missing a tooth or two and clearly grammar was not something he learned during is “formal learnin’.” Without embarrassment or shame, he tells the story of the creature that invaded his property that couldn’t have been anything but a Big Foot. And he believes what he’s seen. We do that as Christians--we come up with an idea about God that we think is true--we are either bound to this idea culturally or denominationally, but in reality, we have missed the bulls-eye.

I wish I had come up with the idea of spiritual big foots on my own, but I must give credit where credit is due. In church last Sunday, my pastor, Les, spoke about Christian Urban Legends, or Christian Big Foot sightings. He said that there are these ideas out there about God that sound true, and can even be somewhat confirmed through various scriptures, but when you get below the surface of that scripture, you find that what you thought you knew, was actually a spiritual big foot. This last week, he debunked the myth that God wants us to be happy. Nope--God doesn’t want us to be happy. He wants us to be Holy. Two different games altogether.

So I have been thinking all week about spiritual big foots in my life and I think I have come up with one. I have always thought that sin consequences eventually fade, for the most part. But I don’t think that’s always true. There are some sins that do chase us from the moment of inception to our graves, but Satan also uses them as a foot hold--a chink in our armor, so to speak. He sees where we have stumbled before, and puts that in his file-o-fax for later reference. But here is where I struggle--does Satan using that sin later in your life constitute a consequence? Your ideas are welcome on that question...

About a year ago, I made a poor choice in a dating relationship--this guy was great, but he didn’t really know God. He knew the right words to say, but the meaning was very different to him than it was to my beliefs about God. So, I ended it, eventually! Actually, I ended it sooner rather than later, but that’s not the point of this blog. We dated for a few weeks and then I came to my senses! So, over the course of the past year, I have dealt in varying forms the consequences of dating the wrong person and a broken heart.

Well, recently he showed back up in my life. I remember telling Benita, “It’s my fault--I knew that when I opened that door a year ago, I was in for trouble, and I am paying the price still today...” Maybe. But perhaps Satan had found me in a vulnerable time and said “insert boy here!” And I was in a terrible place--and still am in some respects, but not as terrible as I think!--and my faith was teetering on the edge. Now, I am not saying I was about to turn and walk away from God, but I was about to make a huge mistake (which I was saved from) and the stress of the situation was causing a delay in communication with God. I thought I knew what He wanted and was pursuing it, only to find I wasn’t listening as closely as I ought.

So Satan comes along--because he always does--and thinks to himself, “What can I do to get just a little wedge between Jenny and her Savior, Rock, and Refuge? Oh--I know...” and enter the text message from hell. Literally. It was innocent, just a hey, how are you doing type thing. It escalated some from there--we chatted for a few days fairly regularly. Nothing romantic, just a friendly conversation. Then, I melted down. And my ears (literally and figuratively!) opened to God’s will and I was free from that particular burden.

I didn’t make the connection between the text message from hell and my internal emotional turmoil, but it was there. Rather than focusing on discerning God’s will for my life, I was focusing on my phone. Rather than seeking God’s attention and direction I was seeking attention from the boy. And faster than you can say suffering succotash, Satan had distracted me from my purposeful and earnest prayer. In this case, my former sin wasn’t necessarily sending me another consequence as much as Satan was all over me, full force, using my old sin as the platform from which to jump.

Now, I am not saying that my old sin wasn’t the cause of this, but I am not entirely sure it was. Boy didn't text because of my old sin, Satan used that old sin to try to wedge in between me and God. I have gotten things right with God and made the decision He has for my life and suddenly, the text messages have stopped. It was the sudden cease and desist of text messages that got me to wondering about this whole consequences of sin vs. the trickery of the deceitful one. Do I think that I would have heard from this person had I not been in the turmoil I was in? I honestly don’t think so. I think Satan pulled out his Cooper file and said to himself, “What is the quickest way to distract her?” and pulled out the boy card. And it worked--for a while.

But, the great thing about God is that he doesn’t give up--ever. He didn’t give up when Satan had my undivided attention. He won’t give up when Satan pulls another file out of my milk crate of file folders. James 1:17 says that God is CONSTANT. He is unchanging... It says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” Lights. No variation. No shifting shadow. How could Satan work if he didn’t change minute by minute and hide in the dark shadows?

God sent Jesus to die on the cross to save me. To save you. Philippians 2:8 says, “ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” God’s love extended to the cross--even to death on the cross! And His grace extends even farther... Thankfully!