Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. -Ephesians 6:10-18
Successful people, by and large, aren't interested in God until a crisis hits their life. With money in the bank and careers on course, few people will slow down long enough to tackle questions of eternity. For the most part, only when things turn stormy do they turn to God, or to people who they think may know Him.
If we don't know Him before we get rich, chances aren't good we'll ever meet Him. That's why Jesus said camels will pass through needles more often than rich people will slip through the gates of heaven. It isn't that being rich is wrong; it's that being rich draws us away from awareness that we need God.
In fact, being poor can be just as dangerous, especially if leads us to focus our lives on trying to get rich. If we're so envious of what other people have that we yearn our days away, pining for possessions and/or power, we've lost sight of God.
Anything that distracts us from complete dependence on God becomes an immensely destructive force in our life. In today's culture, the biggest culprit is work. In a total reversal of what God intended, we've managed to make work the place where we're least aware of God. Genesis teaches us work was intended to put us in touch with Him!
So, should we revert to sackcloth and ashes? Head off to a monastery and spend our days in quiet contemplation?
Not likely. God is an active God, and-made in His image-we're to be an active people.
But we must guard our hearts. The apostle Paul describes it as being in the world without being like the world. Life isn't lived only in churches; it's also lived in offices and jobsites and homes and concert halls and classrooms and every other place where activity occurs. We're to be in those places doing the things others do in those places. Unlike others, though, we're to be doing them for God, in the very narrow way He intends them to be done. The moment we switch to doing it for ourselves, or break God's commands in the ways we do it, we've lost touch with God.
Then we look and feel and act like the people who don't know Him, and, tragically, we make it even harder for them to see Him in and through us.
As hard as this is to hear (and say), if it's the storms in life that keep us close to God, then Lord, bring on the storms.
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