A Dependent Independence

I was driving along in my car the other day, when I suddenly remembered that it had needed a filter changed, and I never got it taken care of. I wondered how hard it was to get to the filter, and if it was something I could replace myself. --Then I was startled I had even thought such a thing! Here I am, thinking like an independent woman, I thought. 

But that brought to mind the paradox of being a single Christian woman. I have the responsibility to be independent, that is, to provide for my own needs so I can be free to be a blessing to others, rather than a burden. But I also need to remember the responsibility to stay dependent in other areas.

The ideal path for a godly woman is to marry (a godly man, of course) and have children, and to raise up a godly next generation. I say this because, as I have read and studied Scripture, that is the way our society, our homes, even our churches, are designed to work.

However, there are some women (and men, for that matter), who do not follow the typical pattern of growing up, getting married, and having kids. Are they somehow out of God's will?

Not necessarily.

I Corinthians 7 used to be one of my least favorite passages to read, because I always felt like it clashed with my youthful hopes and dreams. I would read it and think how desolate to be one of the "unmarried and widows" it mentioned, without family or a husband to take care of them. How horrible! And yet, look at what this passage of Scripture really says regarding a single Christian:

"I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I." (v.8)

"He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. " (v.33)

"There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband."

These are just a few of the things in this passage that indicate that the single Christian is actually better off than the married Christian. Why? because "ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." (v.35)

Singleness presents a unique opportunity to serve because of the ability of the single Christian to be independent. It also presents a unique temptation, because it is easy to become too independent and start taking things into our own hands which we have no right to take. We must carefully guard these areas of dependence if we want our singleness to glorify the Lord.

So, what areas require dependence?

1. Dependent upon God.

How strange it is, that we, who are dependent upon God for absolutely everything --even down to the air we breathe and our body's ability to extract what it needs and expel the rest-- can ever forget that we need Him. But we do. If you're at all like me, you probably have forgotten that more than once just in the course of the day today. But it is our dependence upon God that is the source of our strength and ability to do anything. Jesus said,

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)

If we are to serve the Lord at all, we need His strength, His power, His enabling. Remembering our dependence upon God is crucial, because without that truth, we become prideful and begin to take credit for the things that God Himself is responsible for accomplishing. And we know that "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (James 4:6)

Dependence upon God is of course the first and most important area of dependence, but there is also another we must keep in mind.

2. Dependent upon Others

This is the paradox of being a single Christian woman. We are supposed to take care of ourselves. After all, the Bible does say that anyone who will not work should not eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10) So I am not for a moment suggesting that we all find some kind person to take care of us and meet all our needs while we laze about all day. What I am saying is that we need to remember to be humble enough to accept kindness and help from others.

This is applicable in big things, but it is more common in small things. For example, letting someone open a door for you, or carry something --even if you are perfectly capable of carrying it yourself. These are little things, but when other Christians do something kind for us, they are showing Christ's love.

As Christians we are supposed to be demonstrating Christ's love to each other all the time, in fact, it is how others will know that we are Christians. (John 13:5)  So when we get that "I can do it myself" attitude and pridefully refuse the attempts of our fellow believers to give help or render kindness, we are hindering them in exercising their God-given responsibility to love as Christ loved.

Working with small children has taught me that sometimes, accepting a kindness is as much a demonstration of love as giving one. I've had students bring me all sorts of things over the years -rocks, shells, toilet paper tubes decorated in garish scribbles, dollar-store perfume --even a bug or two! But no matter what a child brings me, as soon as the words "this is for you" stumble out of his or her mouth, my responsibility is to show God's love for them by accepting the gift with gratefulness and love, just as God accepts my own pitiful offerings of feeble service to Him.  

In our efforts to be independent and responsible, it is important that we never lose sight of the truths that we are not supposed to be independent from other Christians, and we cannot be independent from God.

So, rejoice in your independence as a gift from God, but acknowledge that you are fully dependent on Him, not forgetting to let yourself be dependent on fellow believers when needful.

The key is to give freely, and receive humbly.

To be Approved

I'm a pleaser. It's how God has wired me, and that innate desire to please the people around me can be a strength, but it can also be a weakness. Instead of seeking to please God by serving others, my focus can easily shift to seeking to please others to gain their approval or love.

It might not seem that big of a deal to try to please others, after all, isn't that an unselfish thing to do?

Actually, the pursuit of approval is completely self-motivated. It is driven by a feeling of emptiness, a desire for the fulfillment that comes when the other person is pleased with us and demonstrates love or acceptance. It makes us feel good, and we naturally want more love, more approval, more acceptance.

This can be very dangerous, however, and God takes the matter seriously. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? Their story is found in Acts 5:1-11. This couple sold a piece of land, and then lied, pretending to give the whole price, when in fact, they were only giving part. They wanted to look like they were being piously generous, but in reality, they were being stingy.  Still, they had a choice. As Peter points out, the land was theirs, the money was theirs, and the choice of what to do with both was theirs. They were not required to give all, so why did they pretend to?

Because they wanted approval.

They wanted the believers in their community to think well of them. Others had done similarly with their land, and no doubt were thought well of for their generosity and dedication to Christ. Selling the land and being seen to give the whole price to the church certainly would have seemed like a good way to gain approval, but they were not acting from a Spirit-led heart. They were acting in self-interest, and not only did it cost them the opinion of the church, it cost them their very lives. God knew their duplicity and put a stop to it there and then.

When we seek to have our longing for approval filled by others, whether it be our peers, parents, bosses, pastors, teachers, or anyone else, we will be easily led into sin. This is why peer pressure works. People want to be approved, thought well of, and liked, and so they will do and say things they never would have done or said otherwise in order to impress.

The problem is, other people can never fill that empty part of our heart that cries out for acceptance, love, and approval. That emptiness exists so God can fill it. Only God can truly satisfy our need for love and approval, only God can give us the fullness of being accepted.

People change. Their approval or acceptance of us, even their love is dependent on what we do. God's approval and acceptance are based first and foremost on what Christ has already done. It is Christ's sacrifice that makes available to us God's acceptance of us.

Ephesians 1:6 says that through Christ we are "accepted in the beloved". For the saved, acceptance is already accomplished, once and for all. Jesus said, "him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37) Those who come to Christ will never be rejected by Him. And once we belong to God, nothing can remove us from His hand! (John 10:29)

God's love is also not dependent on our behavior. He has said, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3) and Romans 5:8 reminds us, "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He has proved His unconditional love by sacrificing Himself to pay for our sin. I love the way 2 Corinthians 5:21 puts it:

"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

Now, God's love and acceptance are based on Christ's actions, but that does not mean our actions are not important. We have a responsibility to live out the truth of our acceptance before God, and of His love for us. How do we do that? Jesus said, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). We show that we love God by obeying. 1 John 2:3 says "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments." Obviously, obedience is important, because it shows that we have been accepted, that we know God.

We also live out the truth of God's approval by reading and studying the Bible. Timothy is told, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) We show ourselves to be "approved unto God" by studying and knowing God's Word. The more we know of God through His Word, the more confidently we can serve Him.

Jesus also said, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34-35) We show the truth of God's love for us by loving others with the same kind of love He has lavished on us. 

All these things we do only show what is on the inside. It is possible to make a show of doing the "right things" outwardly without getting our inward focus right, like Ananias and Sapphira. No one can fix our focus for us. It is a matter of getting alone with God, confessing our wrong focus, and accepting the truth of His love, His acceptance, and His approval of us through Christ.



One passage that helped me recently in this area was Deuteronomy 32:4, part of the song of Moses:

"He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgement: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He."

That was the key for me. I knew all the truths about God's acceptance and approval, but  I had to trust that whether or not I ever gained approval from a certain set of people, God was perfectly just in what He was allowing. It was not until I took the verse apart and applied the truths about God to my specific situation that I really had victory, though.

He is the Rock: unmovable, unchanging, steady, and secure.

His work is perfect: I can trust His working, both in my heart and the hearts of those around me.

for all His ways are judgement: He will only do what is just and right.

a God of truth: Whatever false impression others may have of me, God knows the truth.

and without iniquity: He is good, and this hurt He has allowed will bring good in my life.

just and right is He: I can trust Him.

Whatever other people may think of us, no matter if they approve or disapprove of us, love or hate us, accept or reject us, nothing changes the fact that God has already unalterably approved us in Christ, accepted us as His own, and loved us, before we even came to Him.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38-39

Sweet-Smelling Fragrance

Our neighbors have a bush growing along their driveway that gives off a sweet and abundant fragrance. Walking by it, I always take a deep breath, and savor the beautiful aroma. It's not too strong, not overpowering, just unobtrusively sweet.

As I was walking by the plant recently, I took a deep breath and the Holy Spirit convicted my heart that I had not been like that plant this week. Specifically, I was reminded that my speech had been far from sweet (though it had been abundant). In fact, with all the negative, complaining things I had said, I had very closely resembled a skunk cabbage!

I knew there was a verse somewhere that referenced a "sweetsmelling savour" in the context of speech. So, I did what any 30-something smart phone user would do: I pulled up my Bible app and did a quick search. It was Ephesians 5 I had been thinking of. Here's what it says:

 "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." (1-2)

At first glance, the reference to the "sweetsmelling savour" appears to apply only to Christ's sacrifice for us. Of course that would be a pleasing sacrifice to God! But notice that this description of Christ's sacrifice is preceded by a command to be "followers of God" and to "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us", --In other words, we are to do as Jesus did: to love others by giving ourselves for them.

This still didn't seem to connect with the way the Holy Spirit had convicted me about my speech, but then I read on. The next two verses were the "aha" moment for me and reminded me why I had expected this passage to be connected to how a Christian should speak:

"But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks."(3-4)

This instruction about our speech directly follows and is connected with the thought that our love and sacrifice for others ought to mirror Christ's love and sacrifice for us. This is shown (at least in part) by what we choose to say.

Read over the list again. The first three items are sins that should not even be discussed: Matthew Henry puts it this way: "these sins must be dreaded and detested in the highest degree".  In other words, I don't need to be telling or listening to descriptions of  what the wicked are doing and saying in these areas. (An obvious application here would be reading tabloids that give all the "juicy details" of a scandal.)

The next three on the list have to do with joking about things that should be taken seriously. I have to admit, as I looked back over the week, my speech was measuring up pretty well. But then there's the last item on the list: "But rather giving of thanks".

There it was.

I had been whining and complaining, griping about so many things --No wonder my speech wasn't sending up as sweetsmelling savour to the Lord! And not only that, my ungrateful words of complaint were not a sweet savor of Christ to the world around me, either. 2 Corinthians 2:15 says:

"For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish"

There's more to that thought in the verses that follow, but notice that we are a sweet savour both to the saved and to the lost. And lest we think that this is somehow unconnected to our speech, we have verse 17 which continues the line of reasoning:

"For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." 

Not only is our speech supposed to be from a heart of thankfulness to God, it is supposed to be sincere and true --our speech is to be consistent with the truths of God's Word. That is another way my speech failed the test of Scripture this week. By complaining and griping, I was essentially declaring that God is not good.

If I believe that God is good, I will have no reason to complain about anything, because I can take any circumstance, any little irritation or annoyance, and apply to it the truth that God has allowed it for a good purpose to make me more like Him.

Charles Spurgeon is noted as having said, "I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me into the Rock of Ages".  --That sounds like a man who has fully embraced the truth of Romans 8:28. His words give off the "sweetsmelling savour" of a grateful and faithful heart.

As we spend time more time than usual at home with family, it can be easy to grow too comfortable and begin to voice complaints or speak negatively to and about others. One way we are to show the love of Christ to those around us is to speak in a way that fills our homes with a sweet savor of Christ.

So, how does your speech smell to God and to those around you today? Are you a rose or a skunk cabbage?
 

This is the day: Dealing with Disappointment Part 2

My last post dealt with the reality of the feelings of disappointment and loss so many of us are experiencing right now. It also acknowledged that those feelings are natural, but that they should not be allowed to define our existence. No matter what is happening, we can still live in hope, knowing that God has good things still to come for us. There will always be something to praise Him for.

If you haven't read the post yet, click here.

Now, dealing Biblically with disappointment isn't a one-time-fix-all event. Satan loves to remind us of the things we have lost or missed out on, and if he can get our eyes fixed back on our disappointment, he can destroy the peace and joy God wants us to have.

Case in point: my planner. When looked at those squares full of all the things that were supposed to be going on this week, I couldn't help but be reminded of the enjoyable parts of the week I would be missing out on.

But then, I stopped pouting, took a breath, and realized that instead of bracing myself for another long day of teaching followed by a long night of  ministry and responsibilities, only to repeat the cycle the next day with even less sleep, I was in my kitchen, peacefully making myself a cup of coffee before sitting down to read a book. Yes, much has been cancelled, but I had to thank the Lord for changing my week from exhausting to restful.

Psalm 118:24 says:

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." 

This week, those first four words stood out to me like never before. This is the day. This one. This day, with all its changes from what I had expected it to be, this is the day God planned for me to live. Not that other day I had written out in my planner, but this one. I shouldn't be moping over the day that God allowed not to happen; I should instead be rejoicing in the day He has allowed. And do you know why?


Because He is good.

You might be getting tired of hearing me say that, but everywhere I look, whatever topic I write about, it always seems to boil down to this: we can trust Him, for He is good. It doesn't matter if we think He is being good, or whether we can see His hand working good things in our situation, He is still good. And if we can just get our eyes fixed on that truth, all fear, disappointment, loss, anger, grief, --all of it melts away when we choose to agree with the truth that God is good.

So, I choose to rejoice in today, thanking God for His goodness and trusting His plan. --After all,

"This is the day which the Lord hath made"

I Shall Yet Praise Him: Dealing with Disappointment

I got out my planner this week. --You know, those books we used to use to write down all the things we were going to do? I haven't looked at mine since March.

Filling the squares of the calendar for this next week were event after event, responsibility after responsibility. It would have been the busiest week of the school year for me, with something going on every night as well as a writing conference all day Saturday. I remember feeling overwhelmed as I wrote in all the things I needed to remember to do that week, taking a deep breath at the recollection of how exhausted I usually am by the end of that week each year.

Yet at the same time, I looked forward to the excitement of the school year drawing to a close, to the bustle of preparation for the graduations and for the festivities of the last week of school to follow. I looked forward to all the new things I would be teaching my students during each of those school days, even if I would be tired from the long string of late nights. All those happy and exciting things almost made up for the stress and exhaustion of the week.

But now, as I look at the busy days that were to signal the final push towards end of the school year and the beginning of a new focus on writing for the summer, There's a lot to be disappointed about. Added to all that was the news I received this week of the cancellation of the four-day writer's contest I was going to attend in August. That and the one-day spring conference which would have been this week were like the two bookends of my summer, and with both of them cancelled, the disappointment seems complete.

However...

Looking at that planner, I was reminded of the verses in James which say: "Go to, now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." (James 4:13-15)

It is natural to be disappointed when things we had so looked forward to are cancelled, opportunities are lost, or vacation time seemingly squandered by the necessity to stay home. I think everyone has at least one major thing they are mourning over right now, and it isn't wrong to feel disappointed.

It is wrong to stay there, though.

You have probably heard this example many times, but don't let familiarity rob you of its truth: While David was running from Saul (who was trying to kill him, even though he hadn't done anything wrong), he and his band of men had been living in the city of Ziklag with their wives and children. I won't belabor the background, but David's little army returned home to find that the city had been burned and all their wives and children had been taken captive.

Disappointing, right? Here they were, probably looking forward to some rest and time with their families, only to find that everything important had been taken away. This was even more devastating to David, because the men began to blame him, even to the point of wanting to kill him in revenge for what had happened!

So how did David deal with this mixture of disappointment, loss, and fear? he"encouraged himself in the Lord his God." (1 Sam. 30:6)

I don't know when Psalm 42 was written, or even if David was the one who penned it, but it expresses exactly how we should respond to disappointment, grief, and loss:

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance." (Psalm 42:11)

Throughout this psalm, the psalmist is honest with God about what he is feeling, even to the point of asking why God has forgotten him, but then he reminds himself of the wonderful truth "I shall yet praise Him". In the midst of sorrow, loss, and disappointment, the psalmist didn't lose track of the truth that now is not all there is. Even without Romans 8:28, he knew that God could be trusted, and that there would again be reason to praise Him, no matter how bleak he felt at that moment. That was the hope he clung to.


Whatever is happening, whatever you are missing, God knows. Invite Him into your disappointment, and see how He reminds you of the truth that it's not over, that He has good things planned for you that cannot be cancelled.   

The Illusion of Safety

We live in a day where safety has become a daily concern. Slogans such as "Stay safe, stay home." are flashed across all forms of media, and debates rage over what measures we should be taking to ensure our own safety and that of those around us. Masks or no masks? Quarantine inside or getting out in the sunshine? Open up or stay closed? Arguments abound, but no one seems to be able to come to a sound consensus.

A news article about a White House staff member's recent Coronavirus diagnosis posed the question,

"If Coronavirus is in the White House, is anyone really safe?"

The truth is, the idea of safety is an illusion. At least, from a human point of view. There is no sure-fire way of keeping ourselves protected from Coronavirus, cancer, car accidents, airplane crashes, or simply tripping over our own feet and sustaining significant injury.

Sounds pretty hopeless, huh?

On a human level, it is. We can never ensure 100% that we will be safe or healthy, or that our friends and loved ones will be so. There will always be the possibility of illness or accident, always the possibility that the next breath we take will be our last.

So where is the hope in all this? Proverbs 21:31 reminds us that

"The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord."

So yes, we should eat our veggies and wash our hands. We should follow the guidelines set out by medical professionals that are working so hard to find new ways to combat disease, but we should also remember that all this is vain if we are not looking to the Lord to keep us safe.

We must also bear in mind that God's idea of safety may not match our own. We like to be left alone in our own little world, with things exactly the way we want them, but God's desire is not to make us comfortable; it is to make us more like Him. So, "safety" might mean taking away something that is hindering your relationship with Him. It may look like plunging you into the midst of sorrow, so you can find that He is your true source of comfort. It may even look like allowing illness or injury to get your eyes off the distractions in life and back onto Him.

Whatever God allows, we can be sure that if we have accepted Christ's payment for our sins, we are God's children, and as such, whatever happens to us must first pass through the filter of God's loving care.

A Biblical Response to Feeling Overlooked or Marginalized

This week, I revisited some study notes on the book of Esther, and I got to thinking about Mordecai. (If you need a refresher on who Mordecai was, go read the book of Esther)

 The kings of Persia were known for their liberal generosity to those who showed their loyalty. Mordecai did just that by exposing the plot to assassinate the king, but he was inexplicably not rewarded. He was forgotten, and his great service to the king treated as if it were nothing at all.

Mordecai probably couldn’t help but be stunned at this turn of events. Of course, there is no indication that he had acted merely for reward, but in a situation when one has done something worthy of reward and is overlooked, it can be more than a little bit disappointing.

Perhaps you have felt like that before. I know I have. When something we have done or a skill we possess is worthy of recognition, but is overlooked, it hurts. It doesn’t matter whether it was purposeful or accidental, or whether there were extenuating circumstances or not; it still feels like being personally rejected. In Mordecai’s day, the king’s accidental slight would have been like a slap in the face to a faithful servant. So what did Mordecai do?

He kept on faithfully serving.

He stayed humble and just did what he knew was right, whether or not he was rewarded. There are several other Biblical characters that come to mind when I think of people who would seem like they had a right to feel marginalized or overlooked.

Joseph- He was literally thrown away by his brothers, sold into slavery just because they wanted to get rid of him. Then, after faithfully serving and repeatedly displaying great skill in his work, he was lied about, unjustly imprisoned, and then forgotten.

David- The prophet Samuel, the most important man in Israel at the time, came to visit his family and asked specifically to meet the sons, and David was left out with the sheep.

Jonathan- His father was Israel’s first king. As firstborn son, Jonathan was considered the rightful heir to the throne –until his father disobeyed and God chose a new king.

John the Baptist- Was famous, all sorts of people traveled into the wilderness to hear him preach. Then Jesus came and the crowds began to fade away.

Bartimaeus- Was blind and had to beg for his daily bread. Jesus was well known to be able to heal people, but when Bartimaeus tried to get Jesus’ attention, the crowd told him to be quiet.

Jesus- Came to earth to save mankind from our sins. When he presented himself in His hometown, He was met with anger and rejected.  The people even tried to throw Him off a cliff!

So, what did these people do when faced with being looked down upon, despised, marginalized, forgotten, or rejected? They just kept doing right. Joseph, like Mordecai, kept on serving faithfully. David kept carefully tending the sheep. Jonathan threw all his efforts into promoting David’s eventual reign. John the Baptist said “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Bartimaeus kept calling out for healing, and Jesus quietly, humbly went on to the next city:

“But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.” (Luke 4:30-31)

Each of these, and of course the Lord Jesus most of all, serves as an example of how we should face those times when we are overlooked, when our efforts, abilities, or ideas are dismissed, or when we are blatantly rejected. We should keep on, committing ourselves and our “right” to recognition, acceptance, and approval to God. As I Peter 4:19 says:

“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

We can trust God. And He is faithful. Mordecai was honored, Joseph was promoted and his abilities recognized, David was made king, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father and now sits enthroned in glory. --Not all of the situations were turned around. Jonathan and John the Baptist had to wait for heaven to receive their reward, but notice that they were fully content just to serve God and others while they lived. Their eyes were on God's approval, not man's.

God is faithful whether or not we are recognized and accepted by others. No matter how many people reject or overlook us, serving God should be about God. When our focus is right, His approval and recognition not only becomes enough for us; we begin to see that it is all that really matters.

A Christian Writer’s “Victory Garden”

My neighbor and I were doing some yard work on opposite sides of the driveway the other day, and got to chatting about our respective gardening plans. I told him what my parents had planted in the raised beds, and he told me about his new strawberry plants. He made the comment, “Our President says we’re in a war, so I planted a victory garden.”

The idea intrigued me, and I began to think about the victory gardens planted during the Second World War. The idea was that by turning lawns, flowerbeds, and any other available patch of land into food-producing gardens, the gardeners made a significant contribution to the cause of victory. In the days of food shortages and rationing, a kitchen garden was not only a help --it was often a necessity. And with every seed planted, the gardeners felt themselves one more step towards victory.

Now, whatever your views and opinions concerning our President, I have to say that when he mentioned that fighting this virus is basically like fighting a war against an unseen enemy, he summed up how many people were feeling. For the Christian, it is doubly so, because we are not just fighting the spread of a virus; we are in fact fighting against Satan’s attempts to use this crisis to derail any progress we might be making in our walk with the Lord. Whether through worry, fear, or anything else, Satan wants to get our eyes off God and onto circumstances. He wants to get our hearts and minds so distracted that we have no time or energy to focus on what God has for us to be learning and doing during this time.

And we have to fight. Not in our power, of course, because as Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5) But the fact that we need God to help us fight doesn’t mean it won't still be a fight. We are told to “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) A preacher I heard once said that this means we are to say “yes” to God, and when we say “yes” to God, we will say “no” to the devil.

This fight is different than the fight against the Coronavirus, because our spiritual war has already been won. Jesus has already won our final victory, and we can read about what Satan’s end will be in Revelation 20. 

As I Peter 2:24 says of Jesus: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” That is the victory He has won for us: victory over sin.

So what does a spiritual victory garden look like? It will look different for each one of us, since God has different "seeds" He wants sown during this time. The point of a victory garden was to produce fruit, and a spiritual victory garden is a decided and prolonged effort to produce fruit for God's kingdom, either in our own lives or the lives of those around us. Perhaps God wants you to be memorizing verses so you can confidently share the gospel with others. Maybe it is a skill God wants you to learn which He intends to use for His glory later on. Or perhaps it is a seed of character He wants planted in your own heart; a lesson learned now to prepare you for the next step in your Christian growth. Whatever it is, now is the time to be planting.

 I don’t know how better to illustrate than to tell you about my own victory garden, which has to do specifically with writing, but the principle is still applicable even if you aren’t a writer.

When the pandemic quarantine began, I was disappointed as plans were postponed indefinitely and even church was cancelled. As I began to try to adjust to this stay-at-home way of life, I was struck early on by the thought that God had a purpose for me during this time, and that it was no accident that I was faced with extra time at home just as writing was becoming a major part of my life. I knew God wanted me to use this time to develop my writing skill and to make progress on the different writing projects I had begun.

That was when I began to plant seeds in my writer's victory garden. I began a challenge of writing 500 words a day for 30 days, and carefully thought about how I was using my time. I listened to audio books and podcasts as I worked at tasks that didn’t require much mental exertion, and I started in on my substantial “to be read” pile, giving first priority to the two books I had bought about writing, but hadn’t had time to read yet.

I also thought seriously about what kind of schedule I wanted to keep to prepare me for the summer. I had already decided to treat writing just like a job during my summer break, and teaching from home via online lessons has given me the chance to get myself into a regular at-home schedule. Now that I’m in a routine, it is getting much easier to sit down and write when it’s time, and that summer schedule is looking more and more possible. I'm also learning important lessons and growing in my walk with God even more, since I have been focusing more on my relationship with Him, as the source from which I want my writing to flow.

To tend this victory garden of new skills, new habits, and new knowledge, I will have to weed out distractions and things that sound fun, but would eat into the time I need to use for writing. I will need to keep my mind well-watered by continuing to read and learn, first and foremost by immersing myself in Scripture, but also by soaking up all the knowledge I can about my subject matter, as well as about the writing craft itself. I will also need to keep out the “pests” of worry, fear, and self-reliance that will eat up my productivity.

And hopefully, by the end of the summer, my little victory garden will be bearing fruit, whether in finished projects, skills honed for further use, or simply in my own heart’s victory over the temptation to misuse this gift of time God has given me.

"But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

I Corinthians 15:57