So, lift up the mighty shield of faith for the battle must be won. We know that Jesus Christ has risen and the work's already done. Praise the Lord; He will work through those who praise Him.
Praise the Lord; for our God inhabits praise. Praise the Lord; for the chains that seem to bind you serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you when you praise Him. When you praise Him...When you praise, you praise the Lord. Praise the Lord."
The more I live, the more I see that the monsters we feared in our closets and under our beds are real, and are all around us. They are more frightening than any we could have made up as children; they are nearer, and the most frightening part of all is, they live among us. And because many times, they are even IN us if we are not careful--jealousy; selfishness; stubbornness; insecurity; rage--it becomes harder and harder, at times, to tell the good from the bad and the right from the wrong the older and more "set in our ways" we grow. But just as the monsters are real, so are the heroes: they, too, live among us, and in us, and we meet them and ARE them every day: kindness; compassion; mercy; forgiveness; laying our lives down for those around us regardless of what we receive in return. Each day we make a choice: to defeat the monsters or become them. We are defined by what we tolerate and allow to grow...as individuals; as couples; as families; as churches; as nations and leaders and "heads of State." As children, we knew that nothing could happen once the monsters were "chased" out of the closet, and beds properly checked; the darkness was kept out, and we slept in the security of knowing those in authority over us would keep us safe (at least, in an "ideal" world; I know that, for many, the reality was the opposite for the same reasons explored, here). We grow, and we forget that things were simple: that bad is bad, and good is good; we allow fears to creep into our hearts and mold us with each circumstance; we forget what we once longed for and what we once believed.
Do you remember singing in the dark at the top of your lungs as children? Do you remember holding the hand of someone you loved, and feeling the "safety" come back? If you never experienced that, do you remember the longing, and can you imagine it, here? There is so much going on in our world. I'm reminded of it, daily, in the people I counsel and the situations I step into to intervene as situations allow. From Thailand to Tahiti, there are dangers, and hurt, and violence, and oppression--if not seen on a national scale, in homes, behind closed doors. Children are left alone; the penniless wait for answers; the sick are waiting on healing; heartaches, and loneliness, and despair so dark it outshines any darkness we once faced under our beds is becoming apparent and real in our "grown-up" worlds. And, yet, there is a light. There is, yet, goodness. Habakkuk, when faced with situations graver than we will ever know--even in our modern world--said, "Put your trust in God, for I will YET praise Him." Somehow, if inside of us, we hold onto freedom, and life, and love, and truth, and do not let the light go out, if we continue to believe that God is good, and that He will not leave us, His love is a blanket that wraps around us no matter how harshly the winds may blow. Though we may still weep, and grieve the losses and the "waiting," we realize that we are not alone; there is a Hand holding ours keeping us, yet, in "safety" no matter what the day may bring. Like children, we can lift our voices and praise Him; we can magnify Him and trust Him until that trust brings rest to our minds, and shows us a course of action. And when there is no action that can be taken--no course that can be run--we wait in His arms knowing that He is still good. He has overcome the darkness. He has made a world this world cannot touch, and has promised to take us, there. We can be like those of Hebrews 11, who in spite of all threats of violence, held onto a world they saw with distant eyes, and found courage when there was no courage to be found. They stated plainly that they were citizens of a Kingdom never shaken; even in laying down their lives to stand for Truth and Life, they won. Their legacy remains. The monsters of their time could not erase the light those courageous people shone, and so, too, are we if we refuse to bow before fear and despair. May we love with all that is in us; may we sow goodness, and kindness, and freedom, and stand against the darkness. And may the world hear, each day, as we lie down to rest, a song. With voices that shake, perhaps, but voices that cannot stop trusting in the One who knows our frame, may we lie down each night praising His Name. He is good. He is with us. He HAS won. And THAT will give us courage when we awaken, again, each next day.
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