A couple weeks ago I was watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the millionth time.
One particular quote often catches my attention. When Harry is feeling alone in
his fight against the enemy, Voldemort, Luna Lovegood tells him, “I suppose
that’s how he wants you to feel... If I were You-know-who, I’d want you to feel
cut off from everyone else. ‘Cause if it’s just you alone, you’re not as much
of a threat.”
I can identify with that feeling. One of our enemy’s primary
tools is to make us believe we’re alone in the fight for truth, good, and
holiness. The “roaring lion” looks for the weak and isolated members to pick
off (1 Peter 5:8). The Apostle Paul also reminded his readers that separation
creates opportunity for sin:
“…We are members one
of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:25-27).
“Do not deprive one another, except
perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to
prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because
of your lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:5).
I recently read All the Places to Go, by John
Ortberg, and something he said made a lot of sense. Sometimes when we make a
big decision, we suffer from “buyers regret.” The reason for this is that we
start to compare all the negative features of what we chose with all the
positive features of what we did not choose. This doesn’t just apply to
purchases, but to schools, marriage, career, etc. And it occurred to me that it
also applies to our self-perception. We know our own sin and weakness all too
well and we often start comparing our worst features with what little we can
see of the people around us. Pretty soon we’re thinking “Everybody else seems
to have it all together, so I must be the one who’s really messed up!” We’ve created
our own sense of isolation, and the enemy capitalizes on it to bring us even
further down. (Check out Elijah in 1 Kings 19.)
Comparing ourselves with others is never a good thing. It
will only lead to pride or shame, depending on who we’re looking at. “Not that
we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending
themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare
themselves with one another, they are without understanding… For it is not the
one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends”
(2 Corinthians 10:12, 18). And the fact is that God commends His children even
when they do screw up, because His love and grace are greater than our sin. His
love never changes. We may think we have cut ourselves off, but He’s just
waiting for us to look up and see Him still standing there. Christians are
really never alone, no matter what we may think or feel. Ideally, we should know
the loving support of being in frequent communion with our fellow believers. But
even if everyone else fails us, judges us, turns away, or persecutes us, the
Father is still on our side.
Mark Gignilliat
wrote in Christianity Today:
“We face trials and
temptations of all sorts, and God uses them to test our faith. No one knew this
to be true more than Jesus. And no one invites us into the joyous dangers of
faith more graciously than him, either. We don’t wrestle alone. He is with us,
and countless faithful believers have gone before us… The life of faith is one of continual wrestling, where our faith butts
up against the troubles of our experience and the sovereign God who controls
all things. But the work of Christ, True Israel, assures us that we never
wrestle alone or in vain. We may get injured in the ring, but our wounds—like
Jacob’s thrown hip—will never become fatal to faith’s final security. God won’t
allow it.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/december/when-god-hits-below-belt.html
