Strategies

Strategies

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known;
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them.”
                                                    Isaiah 42:16

The story of the Stuxnet computer virus, used to set back the Iranian nuclear program by several years, is like something out of a Hollywood movie with manipulated computer displays, secret facilities in the desert, and deeply hidden and disguised  “worms”. But its use provides an interesting look into the varied strategies that are used to deal with problems and to attack an enemy. In this case, unsuccessful attempts were made to stop the import of the equipment needed to build nuclear facilities into Iran. With military options having been ruled out, another way had to found. And the solution was an attack without a uniform, one that couldn’t be tracked by radar, shot at or shot down; it was a computer worm that worked its destructive way into Iran’s most secure sites.

Hopefully, we each realize that the enemy has many strategies to deceive us and to ultimately keep us from fulfilling God’s will for our lives. Getting us to fall into sin is one of the more obvious tricks, often using other people to lure us into traps, situations or relationships where our defenses are broken down opening the door for us to make wrong choices. But especially in the lives of Christians, his demonic strategies are often as subtle as the Stuxnet virus, using deception to lure us into compromise, into settling for second best, and into choosing the world’s solutions to solve the very real problems we face. But even that is not the end of the matter, because to the believer who is walking close to God, the enemy rolls out his strategy of busyness, filling our lives with so many good things that we lose our closeness to God, lose the anointing on our lives, and fall into the barrenness of a busy life.

But thankfully, the Lord has many strategies for His children, “making a way where there seems to be no way”. He sets forth His Word as “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path”. God speaks His word as we spend time reading, through His ministers, and through others around us. But when we don’t listen, He doesn’t give up on us or write us off; He too has other strategies. At times, God will use suffering to draw us back to where we belong, speaking through the circumstances of our lives. The needs in our lives and in those close to us can also drive us to our knees and back to God. And I’ve seen God withdraw Himself from a person’s life, until they come to a place of desperation, and come running back to the Lord. But at the end of the day, all of God’s strategies, in my life and yours, are designed to bring us closer the One who loves us!!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church