Enemy Occupied Territory

Enemy-occupied territory – that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

If all Christians would take this idea seriously, and apply it to their lives, what a different world we would live in. Instead, we have a hard time resisting the urge to indulge in what the enemy has to offer while we are living here.

This idea has been more real to my wife and I recently, as we prepare to make a change that some consider crazy (we know some think this because they’ve told us). We are asked questions like, “how will you support your family?”, “what will you do once you’re done school?”, and other questions regarding our kids and our house which we are selling.

It seems as though we have this idea that we need to have everything in order before we respond to God’s calling. Here are a few things I think about when I have doubts:

• God does not NEED our money. He only asks that we be generous with what we have.
• God does not NEED our abilities, but wants us to be faithful with the gifts He’s given us.
• God does not depend on our plans to fulfill His own plan for our lives, He just asks that we listen and obey.
• We don’t need to know God’s whole plan to take the first step, we only need to trust Him.

Let us not get caught up in becoming too comfortable in enemy occupied territory. Remember, God has us here for a mission, which, in the details, can look different from person to person. But the call to all God’s people is to love and obey Him, love others and live a life that demonstrates the holiness given to us by God through Jesus Christ.