Whistle series (290110)

Are we open to the divine? Do we have space for God’s everyday miracles in our life? Is our heart open to omnipotence? Do we accord those things that we cannot explain or understand to the mysterious stirrings in the spiritual realm or relegate it to all things material? Let’s face it…no one in this world is immune from the spellbinding effects of the mysterious, the awe-inspiring and the appallingly hair-raisings. Recently, in our cell group, for the first time in many years, we experienced our every own “unexplainable” or the unfathomable.

In one of our cell members’ house, there appeared red markings on the floor with such frequency and randomness that completely stumped all those who were called to investigate its cause or causes. Many humanly rational theories were thrown into the air and none of them stuck. None of them makes sense. In fact, by the process of reduction, that which remained was nothing short of phenomenal, unparalleled and plainly strange. The funny thing is that the harder we tried to understand the odd red markings, the less we were intellectually satisfied with it. In the end, what seems most rational is to adopt the least rational approach to explain the strange apparitions. We had to raise our hands up to heaven and accept that there is more to life’s mysteries than the interplay of natural laws.

So, what’s the lesson for that night? Well, for a marginal or borderline believer, the lesson is this: that Jesus was not delusional when he engaged with and defeated the devil in the wilderness. Neither was He hallucinating when he went into the synagogue in Capernaum and rebuked an unclean spirit with sheer authority and achieved overwhelming success when the unclean spirit convulsed and left its host with a loud cry (Mark 1:21). Finally, the lesson is that Jesus was not exaggerating when He commanded and cast a horde of demons named “legion” into a large herd of pigs as they rushed down a steep bank into the lake and was drown (Luke 8:27). For your information, a legion normally numbered from 4200 to 6000 soldiers. Imagine the power that can be harnessed in the name of Jesus against the forces of darkness when even thousands of demons were helpless to defend and withstand. I guess that Joel 2:32 declares it well with this victory chant, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.”

Another lesson for that night is that it is a wake up call to all believers, young and old. Beloved, it is time we make room in our lives for the divine. It is time we take the things of God seriously. It is also time we raise the bar or set a standard against the spiritual floodgates that are assigned to our lives or our loved ones’ lives to create havoc in our spirit, instill fear in our soul, and threaten all our fundamental relationships. Isaiah puts it well, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” So, do we measure up to God’s standard?

You may not know this, but in my primary school, I was quite an athlete. I was a sprinter, a long jumper and best of all, I was a high jumper. The latter sport involves throwing your body in a tactical way over a horizontal bar or beam that is balanced delicately between two poles. Because the bar is so precariously balanced, any slight bodily contact with the bar will topple it. So, focus and discipline are essential to ensure a successful jump over it. Although the training can be hard and at times, frustrating, the reward of overcoming the obstacle set before you is extremely satisfying. More importantly, the reward is made ever so sweet and thrilling each time you manage to scale the bar as it inches higher and higher. And with each successful jump, you unknowingly improve your skills and confidence to meet the next vertical challenge.

Applying this analogy to our Christian lives, I just want to issue you this challenge, “Are we setting the bar for our Christian life?” Or, “where is the level of our bar now?” For some of us, our bar is set so low that little is expected or demanded of us as a Christian. These are lips-paying Christians who profess loudly with their mouths and do little with their lives to live up to Godly principles. These Christians are surely living below the level of their beliefs and convictions. Bear in mind that if you set mediocre standards, you remain a mediocre Christian.

I believe that the recent experience has woken most of us up and it is therefore time to raise the bar or standard against the forces of darkness. And we are not powerless against them. When it comes to sin, we are called to crucify our flesh just as Jesus had demonstrated at the cross. So, a way to overcome sin has therefore been made. As for demons, we are not without any help. We do not enter the realm of spiritual battle armed with a sling while the enemy is strapped to the chin with explosives. In Luke 10:19, Jesus’ assurance is enough to send shivers down the demon’s spine, “Behold, I give you the authority…over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

So, let’s put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13), fill our lamps with oil, purify our hearts, extend our hands of forgiveness, and come to God with a contrite heart. When the bar has been raised, and a standard set for us to live a victorious life, we can then proclaim with irrepressible confidence and resilient buoyancy the powerful words in James 4:7, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!”