Beware The Slow Blade

In the Sci-Fi book series Dune by Frank Herbert,  Paul Atreides notes: "In shield fighting, one moves fast on defense, slow on attack ... Attack has the sole purpose of tricking the opponent into a misstep, setting him up for the  sinister attack. The shield turns the fast blow, admits the slow kindjal!"  He is referring to fighting with a body shield that repels fast attacks from an opponent.  The slow attack is permitted to enter the shield and can be just as deadly as the fast attack.  In one scene in the book, Paul is practicing with a mentor and without warning looks down and discovers his 'opponents' (training mentor) blade has penetrated the shield.

There are times in the spiritual life we are so busy countering the attacks that come at us fast and furious that we neglect to look for slow gradual attacks.  These attacks are just as damaging as a fast attack if we are not looking for them, and can attack us without us even knowing.  Let me give you an example:  Recently I have been looking and watching for the fast obvious attacks coming at me from Satan and his henchmen.  Without realizing it, while I was busy countering those attacks, his slow blade had penetrated my 'shield'.  I had no clue.  The attacks came so subtlety that I did not see it and just thought it was just my own reactions to life situations around me.   I now know it for what it real was, a slow blade.

Just as in Dune, we are attacked hard and fast to distract us from the slow attack that creeps in with the attempt to destroy us slowly.  It is these slow attacks that we need others to be our eyes to watch out for us and to warn us of the slow blade.  If someone asks you if something is wrong and you don't think there is, consider the idea that it could be the slow blade penetrating your carefully constructed shield of faith, the armor that you think is impenetrable.  We need each other to counter these slow blade attacks.  Without the spiritual awareness of others, we could miss them and become bound by attitudes that can keep us from gaining all God has for us.

What are these slow blades?  There are many.  Some are failure, depression, anger, bitterness, etc.  They creep in so slow that we do not know they are tangling us up in their grip.  Listen to those that are spiritually attuned and know you well to help detect these slow blades.   Accept their observations and listen to them, and allow them to pray for you.  You may be surprised at the slow blades that have attacked you, keeping you from walking in victory in Jesus Christ. I learned my lesson, I pray that you can be made aware of the slow blades attempting to penetrate your shield so you can counter them.

What Does God want me to do?

Quite often I have heard people say: "What is God's will for me?  What should I do?   What kind of job or career should I go after? Where does God want me to go?"  And yes even I have asked these questions.  But lately I have been asking myself a different question.  "Should I even be concerned about God's long term plan for me?" 

If you look in the Bible, God very rarely told anyone what His long term will was.  Even Abraham.  God told him to leave his town and job and go to a place He would show him.  He didn't tell him why, or where, just told him to go.  The amazing thing is Abraham did it.  He had no way of knowing that where he was going was going to be ok or that there would be security.  All he did was do it.  Then later, God told him to leave another city and keep going.  As far as we know, he asked no questions, he just did it.  Did everything turn out alright for him?  Yes.  Did he have hard times?  Yes.  Did he have doubts about God's leading and about his own relationship with God?  Probably.  But Abraham did one thing.  He focused on what God wanted for him one day at a time.  He trusted God no matter what.  He focused on his relationship with God above even that.  That is what drove him to be the man that he became.

So that brings the topic to us.  What is easier to focus on, the long time or the short term?  If you think about it, its the long term.  You don't have to make plans for it (although you should) and you don't have to think about the present.  What if all we did was focus on our relationship/walk with God?  What if we surrendered so fully to God that there was no worry about tomorrow?  What if every day we asked God what He had planned for us today?  What if we just worshiped God for who He is and not where He is taking us?  Not an easy task if you think about it.  Isn't it more frightening to here God ask us to do such and such a task right now or pray for someone right now than it is to think about the future?

Sometimes God does give us a dream and desires.  And sometimes they work out great, and other times, they feel like everything is falling apart.  But when we focus our attention on God, on Jesus, on The Holy Spirit, there is no time to focus on the long term.  Go with God.  He knows the gifts and abilities He gave you.  If He hasn't told you what to plan for in the future, then don't worry about it.  Just worship Him and do what He asks of you day by day, moment by moment.  Will that be easy?  Probably not.  Will it be worth it?  Yes it will be, no matter the outcome. 

So the crux of this whole blog is to say, don't worry about God's will for you in the long term.  What does He want for us now?  If he tells you to get ready for something, to plan for something, then do it with all you have.  But if He does not, don't ask others what to do, or ask others what God's plan for you is if you are not focusing on what you are to do right now.  He may just give you a bigger plan for you than you ever dreamed of.  Start now and ask God "What do you want me to do right now, today?"  It may be small but that small step of faith may be just what He is waiting on to reveal to you His bigger plan.  The more in love and the more obedient you are to Him, the better the relationship you will have with him.  “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." (Matthew 6:34).