Beautiful girls (dressed for costume wedding rehearsal)


Working for a missions organization, it should be no surprise that attacks come on many fronts.

They seem to come so frequently at times, that it is easy to forget that they are attacks from the enemy and not just "stuff that happens."

These can come in many ways. Some are more obvious and others tend not to be. Regardless, it is imperative that we prepare ourselves on a regular basis, by not only "putting on the full armor of God," but also through intense prayer and seeking after Him (which is really part of donning the armor).

Technology can be one of the areas that becomes highly frustrating to deal with. I cannot count the times that our technology has been overwhelmed with issues, just before major events.

Yesterday, a friend who knew I was struggling with our home pc, came into my office to offer a solution. He told be of a program called "glary," that I could download for free and it would clean up many areas of my pc that malware and other methods miss.

He stood by while I downloaded the software on my work pc. I went through the many steps while looking forward to the whole thing operating much more quickly. My anticipation was pretty high.

Once the software was installed, I ran the program and waited for it to tell me what my issues were.

Kind of an on-line shrink for pc's (who seem to have a complex from all of the Mac bashing commercials on tv).

Anyway, as we waited for the inevitable, I was not prepared for the result.

When things stopped spinning and churning, and results were posted, I was given the following:

"YOU HAVE 666 PROBLEMS."

I admit, I began laughing. I could not believe it. I quickly lunged forward from my office chair to click on the "repair" button. In moments, all was well again!

Oh that dealing with all such life issues were as easy as clicking on a 'repair' button.

We lament and are tormented for much longer than we need be, because we are looking for an "easy button" (like the office supply store commercial). We want things fixed now, but we don't want to have to do anything for the repair to occur.

We don't want it to cost us a thing. No effort, no money, no more thought. We just want it fixed, NOW!

The reality is, that our lives in Christ are never going to be 'easy.' We are required to deny ourselves daily, to die daily. Only then will our lives bring glory to Him. We need to stop looking for the 'quick fix' buttons in life and start living for Him.

When we pursue Him and live for Him, He provides the way out. Ways out of all of our problems and issues are there, if we put Him first.

As long as we continue to indulge selfish desires, we'll also keep looking for 'fix it' solutions that don't require real surrender. These 'buttons' will never bring about the sought after results...they will only delay real freedom, and come at an increasing cost.

The sooner we leave our complete selfishness at His feet, the sooner He will truly begin to use our lives for His glory. He can do far more through us, if we get out of the way.

dad