If you didn't know, I was off portaging (combine canoeing and backpacking and you get a basic picture of what that means) for the better part of a week last week, thus the lack of a post for a while. But it turns out the lack of a post is a good thing. My week off the grid gave me some great illustrations for the verses I am going to look at today.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." -I Peter 5:8-9 (NKJV)
Being sober and vigilant are important parts of really any excursion. But particularly, it seems, portaging. You have to keep an eye on the map, the landmarks, the condition of the canoe, potential hazards like rocks and locks, the trail at your feet as you carry your canoe, the sun, and apparently your compass. Did you know that iron ore deposits can send your compass into a tail spin? I had an idea of that. Never really considered what I would have to do if that happened. Um. Found out you just keep going. The point, however, is not that your compass may go nuts in the presents of iron. What I am coming to is that if you don't keep an eye on these things, you can end up very, very lost. Or your canoe may get a hole in it. You have to be vigilant.
But you also have to pay attention to things like how to keep your food away from bears, where not to set up camp, etc. Just like hungry bears and wolves and other critters will come looking for food wherever they can find it, the devil looks to tear us apart. He looks for our weak points. He tries to poke and prod and gnaw at us until we are too weak to be useful anymore. Remember how last time we talked about the previous two verses and discussed humility and casting our care upon God? Those tie into this.
If I am not humble, not only do I not look to God for my strength, but I don't think I have weaknesses that can be exploited by the devil. So I don't shore up those areas. He easily finds the chinks in my armor and uses them to his advantage, making me useless. But when I am sober and vigilant, I recognize my weaknesses. I humbly admit them to God. And furthermore I ask His help in defending those areas. I look for Scripture to back me up in following God and I keep that attitude that I cannot do this on my own. Then, and only then, can I resist him.
Being steadfast in the faith is not something that comes easily or naturally. It requires acknowledging the battle raging on around me and training in Scripture and prayer. I must be in the Word. I must study it, absorb it, become so at home in it that to be out of it feels like I am in enemy territory. I must memorize Scripture. This helps make it feel at home. And I must pray. I must cast every anxiety, every weakness, and every desire on God. Not because I want Him to give me everything but because I must be so at ease with Him that I share every part of myself with Him. I must thank Him for what He has given me. Praise Him for who He is. Thank Him for the work He is doing even when I don't know where it is leading. And let Him share Himself with me. That is how I become steadfast in the faith.
We made camp each night by tying hammocks in trees. The first night was not ideal. We had some issues with figuring out how to get our hammocks to a good level, keep the bugs away, not freak out over every little animal noise we heard. It was rough. The next night we got a little better at it. The last night we had it down pretty well. We got familiar with how high to tie up. What to look for in a tree. And many other things. We made those hammocks much more secure the third night simply because we learned a little more each time we did it. That's becoming steadfast in the faith. Every time your faith is shaken a little bit. Every time you are tested. You learn from the experience. You become more and more equipped to handle the new challenges. It will never be perfect. A hole in the mosquito netting can make you pretty miserable. Just as a slip in the faith can set you back. But even in that you learn. And grow. And next time, you do a little better.
You aren't alone. When the compasses went crazy from iron ore. And the sun beat hot on my neck. And my shoulders felt like they were on fire with the effort. I knew I could keep going. Had to keep going. I wasn't alone in my struggle. I was nearly in tears at points from the sleep deprivation, dehydration, and aching muscles, not to mention the mental fatigue, the frustration over not catching as many fish as I would have liked, and just the fact that I'm a girl and sometimes I need a cry for no apparent reason. But... I wasn't alone. When I was so claustrophobic I had a panic attack in my hammock, I survived truly because I wasn't alone. We had to switch hammocks, and I needed a good hug, a reminder of who God is, and a steady voice to tell me I wasn't going to suffocate in my sleeping bag.
Those are physical challenges. Well, the last one probably was more than just physical. Remember, Satan seeks to exploit our weaknesses. I don't doubt that he had some part to play in my panic. Not the whole thing. But the very fact that what I needed to dispel my worry was the name of God tells me that there was spiritual stuff going on too. Maybe it was just my human weakness forgetting God's greatness. Let's not take forever on the possible explanations. Let's just get to the point from here... If we humans struggle to survive physical challenges when we think we are alone, how much worse are the spiritual challenges? When I couldn't for the life of me remember a verse, and literally felt like my ability to breathe depended on it, I needed someone else to help me. When we suffer because of our faith, be it emotional, mental, or physical suffering, we can do it best when we know we are not alone. Sometimes the suffering for our faith comes from other people. But sometimes it's "just" fighting the daily battles that come with trying to follow Christ instead of my flesh. No matter what the suffering is, we must never forget that we share this battle with our brothers and sisters. They are our support and we are theirs. God gave them to us and us to them. Don't be proud. Let your brothers and sisters, in healthy ways, see your weaknesses so they can pray for you and be encouraged by the fact that they too are not alone.
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