...and the demons won!
World headlines are once again ablaze with reports of yet another celebrity having "wrestled with his demons", and apparently, the demons won!
The title of a federal government education initiative, Race to the Top, may well be the best characterization of what's going on more broadly in our society, and maybe the entire world. Our personal desire to 'race to the top' of our game, whatever it may be, tends to incubate prideful ambition. This ambition can push us to 'do whatever is needful, become whatever is helpful, and get over on whomever is baleful', in order to reach our top. In our race, we may fail to cultivate the character traits, spiritual strength and stamina required to KEEP us successfully at that top we so eagerly desire. As a result, the pressures of 'living life large at the top' easily overwhelm us, sending us reaching and scratching for whatever aids that appear to offer help in our dilemma. Too often, the most available aids are alcohol, prescription meds and hard drugs. Then the downward spiral begins ... and quickly accelerates. In our prideful push, we may indeed reach our top, but may quickly become yet another 'celebrity without sobriety' -- sobriety of character, spiritual roots or stamina.
The only way to wrestle with demons is to ... DON'T! Such battles must be fought, but not by you! Rather, fight-fire-with-fire. Demons are powerful, evil angels (ex-holy Angels who fell from Grace, were ex-communicated from Heaven, and are doomed with sentence of eternal damnation) against whom mere humans are no match
Rather than pursuing your race to the top, another pertinent lesson from The Bible is actually to head in the opposite direction! God honors and exalts humility, meekness and servant-mindedness. It is in developing such traits that we arm ourselves with powerful tools and requisite aids that will sustain us when HE, not our own efforts, puts us at the top of His plan for our individual life.
So the next time you feel like, or hear of someone 'wrestling with demons', stop, reflect and KNOW this: Such a battle is not yours to fight.
Back in the day, there was a slogan,
Let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages
(the ole phone book equivalent of a Google business search)
Perhaps a pertinent adage in our day is,
Let your fingers do the walking through the Holy Bible
(getting to perceive God's quiet voice), and
Let your assigned holy Angels do the wrestling with demons!
Instead of wrestling with demons, we will then be ...
'Walking with Angels'.
Peace~
* See: http://www.truthnet.org/Daniel/Chapter10/
