Things are not as they Seem

Holy nudges. Gut feelings. Intuition. I've had a lot of that going on lately. I am spirit, soul and body. I can't compartmentalize those parts of who I am, it's all connected. When the Holy Spirit comes into my life, He invades it all...and brings good gifts with Him. The more in tune I become with Him, His words, His ways, His voice, His nudges...the more I will recognize how active He really is! There is more going on around us than meets the eye. Things are not as they seem in the 'world', and unless I am tuned in, I will miss it! One of my favorite stories in the Bible comes from 2 Kings 6. Elisha has been warning the king of Israel about the plans of the king of Aram, who is at war with Israel. The king of Aram is so frustrated at his plans being thwarted at every turn, that he sets out to kill Elisha. One morning Elisha's servant wakes up to see them surrounded, read the account of what happened next:

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

To the natural eye, they were doomed! But God was one step ahead and the provision was already there. Chariots of fire! Wow. As I was praying this morning, I was reminded of the verse, 'you prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies',(Psalm 23). In other words, I can relax and trust that you've got it covered. I don't need to freak out when I see an obvious attack or when I sense in my spirit that something is not right. The Lord's prayer says to ask for deliverance from evil. That is pretty much was happened with Elisha and his servants. They were able to see the Lord's help and in turn pray in faith for a solution.It's no different for us. God hasn't changed and become isolated from His people. Jesus taught us to pray for daily needs in the Lord's prayer. Ephesians talks about the spiritual battle we are in:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

With all of the evil in the world today, as recently depicted in yet another school shooting, we can't ignore the Spirit's role in our lives. 1 John 4:4 says, You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Recently a local school had a visit from the police regarding safety, one of the things he said was to trust your gut, ^{follow your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, don't ignore the feeling! Some of our struggles can't be seen with the naked eye. But they can be discerned with the spirit. This week I had occasion to experience that on more than one occasion. One in particular was regarding a stranger, I had an intense gut feeling to back off, even though I was purchasing something from him at the time. It was so strong, I couldn't ignore it. I have no idea if it was me, or God or hormones...but I paid attention. I think that is the key, learning to pay attention to the nudges. Sometimes it might not be the Lord, but sometimes it might be. The closer I am to Him, the more I know His words and live in relationship with Him, the more accurate I will be in discerning the nudges. We can't afford to bury our head in the sand.  Especially today, with all the crazy stuff going on in the world.
 A poem I wrote years ago, depicts the struggle we are in:}

^{Looks can be deceiving}

^{But those giants in the land!}

^{The price you pay for trade-off}

^{Is to die a common man}

^{Are you sleeping with the enemy?}

^{Though lying down is death}

^{Is your head buried safely?}

^{The sand snuffing out your breath}

^{Compromise means safety?}

^{Immunity means life?}

^{You've sold your soul}

^{O Selfish one}

^{To stave away the knife}

^{The victory is ours you know}

^{The battle has been one!}

^{You've but yet to risk the conflict}

^{Conquered through the Son!}

^{Terri Willcox}