About three weeks ago, as I prepared to leave on my Sabbatical, it was apparent that two people with whom I am very close, were under attack by Satan. Both of them are outstanding, Christian young men, whose marriages came under attack by evil forces out of their control. I was eaten up with mixed emotions – confusion, disbelief, anger, disgust, etc. In the weeks that have followed, God has been working through the emotions I had been feeling and given me reassurance that He is protecting the hearts of these two men. In fact, I am more confident than ever that, because of their dedication to lean on God during these difficult days, they will overcome the sin brought into their lives and will ultimately grow stronger!
In my reading of the book, “Chase the Lion,” the author relays the following story which underscores how God can work through evil:
On July 9, 1776, General George Washington was headquartered on Manhattan Island. The ink on the Declaration of Independence was less than a week old and Washington was rallying his troops by reading it to them. Right after the Declaration was read, his energized army marched to where a 15 foot high statue of King George III stood and pulled it down. Then they put the broken pieces into wagons, took them down to the wharf, and placed them on a schooner that sailed up the East River to a foundry where the pieces of the statue of King George III were melted down and made into over 42,000 musket balls.
The symbolism is hard to miss, as was the practicality of this action. Washington’s rebels didn’t just pull the statue over, they melted it down and turned the two-ton lead statue into 42,000 musket balls to shoot at King George III’s redcoats!
This story symbolizes how God works in our lives. He wants to redeem every attack the Enemy has waged against us. In fact, what the Enemy intends for evil, God will use for good:
- Don’t waste suffering
- Don’t waste failure
- Don’t waste disappointment
- Don’t waste cancer
- Don’t waste divorce
God wants to recycle these things for His purposes!