From The Pastor's Desk

Overcoming The Fog

Thank you for visiting our website.
I would like to leave you with this word, the Lord laid upon my heart.

Soldiers pride themselves on
having battlefield situational awareness–being aware of your enemy’s
capabilities and intent, and being aware of your own capability and power to
act.

However, there are times in the
heat of the battle where you lose the ability to trust your eyes and ears. This
is called the “fog of war.”  Dangers in the fog become evident really
quickly. Many good men are lost due to friendly fire or become isolated from
their group and fall into enemy hands.

We must truly be mindful of the
dangers during a spiritual “fog of war”. Not only the danger of shooting our
own (friendly fire), but also the danger of isolation from Godly fellowship.
The spirit of fear (as in a fear of acceptance or a fear of rejection) causes
many to die by friendly fire. You think you are shooting at the enemy but in
reality you are killing your own brothers/sisters in the Lord.

We must also
guard against isolation as isolation breeds distortion. When we become isolated
from fellowship, our view of others gets distorted and their view of us becomes
distorted. The father of lies has space now to create false images of one
another.  During this time, these two major problems not only face the
ministry but also face the laity.

I would like to offer three
keys to overcome the fog:

trust the process, remember
past victories, and stay connected to the church.

When you can’t trust your eyes
or ears, trust the process. We’ve heard it said, “When you don’t know what to
do, do what you know to do”.  In the early years of travelling circuses
there was one famous travelling act that everyone flocked to see. It was the
cat trainer.  A single man would get in the ring with several large tigers
and lions and only a chair and whip get them to perform tricks. On one
particular night, the tent was full to capacity the trainer was in the cage
with the cats when the worst possible thing happened–the lights went out. It
only took about 90 seconds to 2 minutes for someone to flip the breaker, but
during that time the trainer was trapped in a cage with 5 large cats who could
see him but he could not see them.

When the lights came back on, to the crowd’s
amazement, the cats were still preforming their tricks. Afterwards in an
interview, the trainer was asked how he was not afraid in that situation. He
said, “I was scared to death, knowing that they could see me but I could not
see them. However one thing I held on to was that those cats did not know that.
So, I just kept swinging my chair and whip just like I had always done.” Saint
of God, trust the process. Keep praying, keep giving, keep doing what you know
is right.

When the present battle
overwhelms you, remember past victories. “And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives
unto the death.” Revelation 12:11. When David was facing the fog of war in his
life. It seemed all was against him. We find that he ran to where he had hid
Goliaths sword. Why? Not to just have a weapon, he needed something to remind
him how God delivered him in the past.  In the fog of 2020 we must reach
back to past victories and overcome by the word of our testimony. 

 IF HE DID
IT BEFORE, HE CAN DO IT AGAIN!

When you feel the temptation to
pull away, stay connected. I spoke with a soldier who had been in battle and
asked about the fog of war. He said, in the heat of the battle when the fog of
war is surrounding, you realize that you can’t trust your own eyes and ears the
only way to continue the only way to fight is by touch. You find a fellow
soldier and you put your back to theirs. You trust the touch of each other to
get through the fog.  “the God of Israel will be your rereward.” (Isaiah
52:12) God wants to be your rereward (rear guard). 

You’ve got to reach out and
touch God in your fog and let God touch you. The word of God also implores us
to be kind, tenderhearted to one another. To not look only for one’s own
interests, but also for the interests of others. It is vitally important during
this fog of war to reach out to others to help and encourage. 

STAY CONNECTED!

I’m so thankful for those who
have stayed connected to the church. I invite you as well to come and be
connected to Godly people.

We understand that this is but
a season.  “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
throne” (Revelation 3:21).  This fog will soon pass. Hold on, better days
ahead!