Resist Not part 3
So. In Matthew 5:39 Jesus says, "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Don't resist evil. That's the point of this Rant series. You don't have to fight. If someone slaps you, you don't have to slap back. You don't have to retaliate. And you don't have to stand there and keep getting slapped either. You can shrug your shoulders and walk away. But here's the interesting thing: in James 4:7 we see, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Almost seems like there's a contradiction there, no? Don't resist evil, but resist the devil. Hmm. Well, read the whole verse again. Submit yourself to God. That's HOW you resist the devil. You don't have to fight him. You don't have to wage "spiritual warfare." You don't have to fight fire with fire. You overcome evil... with good. You resist... by submitting. What is important is what you submit yourself TO. I think a lot of the time we get so stuck on what's WRONG that we lose sight of what's RIGHT. And, listen, what you feed is what will grow. What you magnify in your life is what will manifest in your life. So instead of focusing on what you think you need to resist... focus on what you want. If you're always fighting... you're not resting. Let me say it like this: "Don't tell your God how big the storm is. Tell the storm how big your God is." Right? Focus on the solution, not on the problem. Don't let anything drag you down. Know (and believe) that Jesus is holding you up. LET Jesus--love--hold you up. You don't have to defend yourself. You can let God defend you. This was the cry of David's heart over and over again. Psalm 59:1, for example. "Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me." And, to be sure, David was a warrior. Yet he knew where his strength came from. He knew what the real power was. God is all-powerful, right? LOVE is all-powerful. Which doesn't mean MOST powerful. It means ALL of the power. Nothing else has any power unless we give it power. And think about this: When you're resisting something--by submitting to the right thing--that takes strength. The strength to not fight back. The strength to let things be what they are even if you don't like them. People are going to do stuff you don't like. That's just part of life. And a big part, if we're being real about it. You can't force people to be or do anything. The goodness of God leads men to repentance. Showing people a more excellent way is the best thing that we can do. Because if people see a better option, they can choose it. But if we only ever smack people down (or smack them back) we're just perpetuating the cycle. Continuing things instead of making things better. You don't have to defeat the devil. Jesus already did that. You don't have to fight everything and everybody. Or anything. Anybody. You can be a peacemaker. You can "resist" by submitting. You can resist by resisting not. By simply focusing on those good and perfect things that flow from the God who is love. "Resist" the lie by ignoring it. "Resist" the darkness by shining your light. That's what this life is for, and that's how we experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God!