The “Realest” Realities + “Smoke Screens”
Smoke Screens.
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3 NKJV)
“Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.” (2 Timothy 2:4 NIV)
As I scroll social media feeds, it is becoming more and more evident that there is a true Enemy of humanity. An enemy of your soul and mine. And it is more and more evident that he is utilizing a few topics, a few hot-button, controversial issues, and even personal pain to distract from his real agenda. HE HAS CREATED SMOKE SCREENS.
A “smoke screen” is defined as a “cloud of smoke created to conceal military operations.”
The enemy of our souls wants to keep our eyes on temporal things. He wants to distract us with the “affairs of this life.” He wants to divide the Church of the Living God over questions and arguments with no eternal ramifications. He is waging a real war for the souls and allegiance of individuals and all collective humanity, and it works greatly to his advantage if the church is disarmed and distracted by his smoke screens.
[Slightly edited.] Even issues of human injustice can be a smoke screen in the war of the ages. Every single thing that can be used as a distraction will be used as a distraction. Social media. Unending personal issues and personal pain. The enemy of our soul will do all he can to take our focus off the real battle and off the only One who will give us victory IN that battle.
Dear Christians, we are called to endure suffering and to refuse to get involved in the world’s fights. Let’s save our voices on social media for things that will still matter in eternity. Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and refuse to be thrown off the real battlefield by the enemy’s smoke screens. Let’s immerse ourselves in the Word, where marching plans are given. Now is the time. The stakes are high. Souls are in play and smoke screens don’t matter. Let’s refuse to fight the world’s fight.
The battle is the Lord’s.
Let’s fight on our knees.
*Side note: The Bible predicts great deception in the last days, and deception is preceded by distraction. Before the enemy can deceive you, he must first distract you. Before the enemy could deceive Eve, he had to distract her with a conversation she should not have been having.
Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life. This is Unedited.