Print This PostThe ivy strikes again…aaaaahhh!
I can’t seem to get away from the stuff. Every time I go outside to work now I run into this insidious noxious weed. So, what do I do? Do I stay inside, out of the reach. Do I cover up with a safe suit like someone working with bio-hazardous waste? Or, do I just charge full steam ahead-”Damn the torpedoes!” There has to to be a better way. I can’t just ignore the hazards and dangers of coming into contact with poison ivy. I need a way to be able to live and work amongst the ivy and, at the same time not face a foe as insidious and tenacious as ivy without having my defenses up.
After my first bout of ivy about 10 days ago, I became more aware that I needed to be able to identify my foe so I could at least make an intelligent decision as to whether to continue working around, and in it, or not. Next step was to find out the best safeguards to prevent the ivy from causing its dreaded side effects if I took the calculated risk to work in the same area where it existed. Finally, and the place where I am now, is finding out what is the best cure for the itch and rash associated with ivy. In otherwards, knowing my enemy; his methods, his ways, and the risks associated with playing in his backyard.
As someone who has always been a risk taker (check out my resume’), I have had a tendancy to act without taking into account the risks involved. My motto has always been, “it’s better to ask forgiveness, than ask permission.” Not always the wisest choice.
Last Saturday, I worked from 7am till 2pm with some friends taking down some apple trees at the edge of a pasture in Carroll Co. Knowing how to identify my enemy now, I recognized it as soon as I got there and realized that I would be working around, and in it, all day long. In otherwards, I had a choice to make, stay and take my chances, and help my friend, or leave and avoid the risk of contamination and the chance to help my friends, Tom and Kathi. But, I had not gone into this battle without planning ahead. Rhonda had some stuff called Derma-Shield that put a layer of protection between my skin and the ivy. (The smart thing would have been to wear long pants. Smart I’m not!). So, needless to say, here I am on Monday with a few more spots of Ivy on my legs, but I am alive to tell the story and my friends are happy.
Here’s the point. As Christians “we live and move and have our being” in a world of danger and traps all around us. This world is not a safe place. And, if we just blindly forge ahead without taking the risks we face as real, there is a good probability we are going to take some good hits. Assuming that BECAUSE we are God’s kids that we are safe from harm is naive’, if not unbiblical. St Peter assures us that we have an enemy that is looking for us so he can tear us to shreds. I Peter 5:8-10. We have to be aware that there is an enemy and that he wants to destroy everything good and Godly about us and the world we live in. Take him seriously. The good news is we have an awesome armor bearer who is also our best friend and infinitely stronger than our foe. But, we have to do our part.
Our part is not only to be aware but to fight. Did you think that we were handed the keys to the kingdom and we wouldn’t have to fight to hold onto it? We are part of God’s mission in Christ-that’s where we get the term co-mission, as in the Great Commission. You and me and all the other members of this army called the Body. All the necessary pieces of armor are included in Ephesians 6:10-18. Put them on or face the consequences. Encourage yourself in the Lord. Help others to be aware of the battle going on. And, don’t ever stop fighting. Don’t let your guard down. Ask some of us who have taken some severe hits what it feels like to ignore the facts. Thank God for Jesus, and for the saints around us who remind us of how deadly and sneaky a foe we have.
I will close with a story from my own life that is shameful, but I will always remember. I lived for 18 years in Alabama where I met the twins’ mom. There was a day when Mom and Dad were visiting us and I came home from work drunk and high and angry. Something set me off and I was raging at my parents, cursing at them and almost foaming at the mouth. My Dad just sat there and let me rage and say all of those dreadful things to him and my Mom, knowing what was going on inside me. Spiritual warfare was a vital part of my parents’ lives and ministry. When I ran out of steam for a moment, my Mom, with tears in her eyes, looked up at me and simply said, “Harvey, if you just hated satan as much as he hated you.” I could not respond so I left.
My friends, as much as we might not like to admit it, or be a part of it, there IS a war going on right now for the hearts and minds and bodies and reputations and health and wealth of believers everywhere.
On the label of the can of Derma-Shield Rhonda gave me to protect my arms and legs from the poison ivy was a picture of a shield, implying that there was a battle going on. The Word of God paints the same picture. Have you put your armor on today?
As we say in AA, “It works if you work it.”
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