“Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” – 1 Peter 5.8-9

Dear RHC

As pastor I get to hear the stories of many different people during the week and what they are going through. Somehow this week there are many stories of strange things happening to people: sickness, feelings of being downcast, repetitive evil nightmares amongst other things.

Without being melodramatic about it, the scriptures plainly teach us that we are in a war and that we do have a real enemy. We are not to be naive about this. How should we respond as a church in times like this? Piecing together a few scriptures such as 1 Peter 5 and James 4, here are a few pointers:

1. Submit yourself to God (James 4.7): Remind yourself of His ultimate authority over all things, as we have been hearing lately in our Colossians series.
2. Resist the devil (James 4.7): Yes, this does mean that we are to actively resist him. This means don’t tolerate the temptations or ungodly thoughts you are faced with. Don’t just sit by as a passive ‘victim’ of the enemies opposition in your life. We are promised that if we resist him, he will flee.
3. Draw near to God (James 4.8): It’s not just enough to actively resist the enemy. Having done that, we are to draw near to God (through His word and in prayer) and to delight in Him, drawing strength through His grace. Again, we are promised that if we do this He will draw near to us.
4. Share your struggles with someone else: You don’t have to suffer on your own. When you share with others, you realize that you aren’t alone, that your struggles aren’t unique to yourself, and you have someone standing with you.
Pray for your brothers and sisters (Luke 22.32): Being a part of a local church is also a responsibility towards our brothers and sisters. Praying for each other is one of the most effective things we can do.

I will be taking some time out this afternoon to specifically pray for those at RHC. Can I ask us all to do that? It’s a great comfort in times of difficulty to know that we aren’t on our own, and that we have others praying for us. Let’s lift up our voices to the Father and pray for those who make up RHC.

With love,

Simon

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