Late night blogging part 2: The true enemy

(This will probably make more sense if you read the previous rant, er, post first...)


I was getting ready for bed, when the second urge to blog hit me. If I went to sleep, I knew I would loose it, so here I am again, for the second time tonight, finishing up the processing that I started in the previous post.



I have wonderful roommates. They are a lot of fun. I relate to each one differently, but they are both very important to me and bless me enormously.

Roommate number 2 and I have a very "special" relationship. We fight. All the time. (she is quite violent I tell you!) Only we are fighting in jest. We both enjoy verbal sparring and spend many of our conversations in mock battles of the wit. (I of course win most often, being ever so clever and all.) She takes great pleasure in twisting my words to the worst possible meaning and throwing them back at me. (This often leaves roommate number 1 attempting to translate, or just laughing at us) We both take great pains to get roommate number 1 to agree with our side. (She is quite skilled at remaining neutral, allowing neither of us to "win")

This is of course all in play, and we don't take any of it seriously. It helps us refresh ourselves and stretch our minds a bit in the process.

But remembering this made me think. There are times when this kind of stuff is not in jest and fun.

Just think of any teen movies involving girls. Where one girl innocently says something meaningful to her, and others twist it and use it against her. Come to think of it, we call this politics when we are adults...

So, how does this relate to my previous post?

Ah, so glad you asked.

Because, it's all about WHO is doing the whispering.

When I say something because I care about the well being of another person, this reeks of love. There is an Enemy who hates anything that reeks of love, and therefore seeks to twist and destroy it whenever possible. If I say "I'm worried about your child" he twists it and "You are a bad parent" is heard. Culture, bad translation, insensitivity, a host of excuses are blamed, and hated. And an action born of concern has become a breeding ground of hurt and suspicion. Score one for the Enemy.

And it's so easy to buy into. When I run into a wall, when I hit the frustrations that I perceive as culture, or stubbornness or fear, and when I resent them, the Enemy gains a foothold in my heart. None of these are the problems. They are the excuses, the symptoms, covering the espionage of the Enemy.

When my roommate deliberately twists my words, it doesn't upset me, because I know we are joking, and I know she is not my enemy. If I didn't know that, and walked into a discussion like ours, it could be so easy to be hurt and offended.

When I only see what is obvious, or what I want to see, I allow the Enemy room to maneuver. When I realize it's all a cover up, I can see beneath the surface, stop resenting the people, and my frustration dissipates.

My enemy is not the culture, it is not the church, it is not people or even myself.

My Enemy is Satan, who seeks to devour us like a roaring lion.

There's a sudden feeling of freedom with this revelation.

Or maybe it's the feeling that now my blogging is done and I can go to sleep. ;-)

Either way, my heart feels lighter now, and Hope burns stronger.

Funny how you feel better when you know your enemy has already been defeated. :-D