THE BREAD BASKET

It Ain't No Picnic! My high school English teacher, Miss Strohl, would have had a cardiac with a title like that. But "It Ain't No Picnic!" is a pretty good description of the ongoing struggles that accompany the person wanting to take his or her Christian experience seriously. When the northern Army of the Potomac marched off for the first major battle of the Civil War in July of 1861, they were followed by many civilians expecting to be entertained by a splendid victory. Men and women rode out from Washington, D.C. in buggies, their lunches packed for an afternoon's spectacle. When the Battle of Bull Run suddenly turned into a panicked rout of the Union Armies, the spectators were caught in the frenzied retreat. There was the loss of human life, and many onlookers were injured.

Believers sometimes resemble those unfortunate Washingtonians in their approach to the Christian life. Spiritual warfare is a reality for believers in this world, but their level of preparedness for the conflict is often tragically inadequate. You and I have been called to battle, but many of us are showing up for a picnic.

In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul wraps up his epistle by exhorting believers to be ready for the battles they face. It's not going to be a physical battle, he admonishes, but a spiritual warfare: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12/NIV).

At times we lash out against human opponents as though they were the real enemy, and forget that in his cleverness, Satan is the real foe. It's foolish for us, in our own strength, to think we can take the upper hand against the Deceiver. He's been in business for thousands of years and is skillfully fraudulent. The Apostle even says that Satan "masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14/NIV).

Even though fighting the Great Deceiver "ain't no picnic," we are the wiser when we concur with David as he faced the Philistine giant, Goliath, in that, "The battle is the Lord's" (I Samuel 17:47/NIV).