Warrior

A lot of people think that my life is perfect. 

My life is a lot easier than most:  I have  a roof over my head.  I never have to worry about not having food to eat.  I have a car to drive.  I have great parents.  I never really struggled in school.  Even though my friends are few, they are wonderful. In all honesty, I've never even had my heart broken.  I don't really have any regrets.

Don't get me wrong.  My life isn't perfect, by any means.  I struggle with a lot of things that most people don't even know about.  But I know that I am truly blessed- far more blessed than I deserve. 

So how is that fair?  Why am I living the good life, while others suffer?  Where is the justice?

I've asked God those questions over and over again for years.  When I didn't get an answer, I was frustrated.  I was worried that people would think I was spoiled, and that they would resent me.  I love listening to people talk about themselves, and I was worried that people wouldn't want to confide in me if they thought I didn't understand.  I've tried being overly dramatic (I still am sometimes), and making things seem worse than they really are so that it looked like I was having just as hard of a time as anybody.  It was silly.  Really, why pretend to be sad, when I am so very happy?

The answer to the 3 questions that I asked before (about justice) hit me a couple of weeks ago:

I was born to be a fighter.

Everyone has their own challenges.  Some struggle with poverty. Some with grades.  People struggle with domestic abuse, self-harm, insecurity, family, drugs, etc.  It's all hard.  It all hurts.  I've been deeply hurt by a few of these things myself.  But I have watched people close to me be hit a lot harder, and they've been struck down. 

I haven't been hit hard enough to be knocked down quite yet.  My challenge is to fight for those who have.

So, what do I do now?  First, I need to remember that I am standing in the midst of a very real war.

"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." ~Ephesians 6:12 (New Living Translation)

As soon as I start fighting, arrows are going to be flying straight at me....how do I stay standing?

"Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm." ~Ephesians 6:13

Just as the world that we are fighting is unseen, the armor that this verse talks about is invisible as well.  As listed in Ephesians 6:14-17, the armor of God is made up of the following:

• The Belt of Truth
• The Body Armor of God's Righteousness
• The Shoes of Peace (peace that comes from the Good News)
• The Shield of Faith
• The Helmet of Salvation
• The Sword of the Spirit (The Spirit is the Word of God)

Finally, in order to stay standing, I need a refuge. 

The LORD is my Rock, my Fortress and my Savior...He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety." ~Psalm 18:2

Staying under the wing of God, and the shelter He creates, is done by crying out to Him through prayer.

"Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere." ~Ephesians 6:18

I won't stand still in this war.  I have been blessed, and I choose to take the joy that those blessings have given me, and use it to strengthen me in the fight. 

                       I am a warrior for the Lord of Heaven's armies.

So, how about you?  Will you join me, and fight on the winning side?

Not For Sale

I hope I lose my job one day.
Why?  Because I hope that one day I’ll be working at a place like Wellspring Living, as a counselor for girls rescued out of sex trafficking.  And I hope that one day after that, there will no longer be a need for me in that job.  I hope that one day, all of those girls are healed, and the trafficking of persons comes to an end.  I hope that I’ll have to find a new job, because that one won’t exist anymore. 

Over the weekend, I met a beautiful woman.  Her face shines with the love of Christ, and her smile is one of pure joy and kindness.  She is soft-spoken, and speaks mostly of God’s mercy.  She is amazed by that mercy, because, as she says, God rescued her out of a horrifying life.  He rescued her out of a life of forced prostitution. 

Her story was similar to one I wrote about a fictional girl named Kelsey.  As I said, that story is not a rare one.  It is based very heavily on the stories of far too many women today.  Those prostitutes that you see on the streets?  The girls you hear about that work in the "massage parlors"?  Do not be deceived by their smiling mask.  Most, if not all,  of those women are slaves.  The woman that I met, though, has a happier ending to her story- she was saved.  And today, she has a passion burning within her to fight for the freedom of the girls that she left behind.  She has found happiness in the salvation of Christ, but she will not rest until human trafficking is no more.  I am fighting with her.   Because before she was saved, this woman lived through terrors that I can hardly bear to think about for even a moment.  She was raped, beaten, and told that she was something to be purchased. 
This happens to women, children, and even men- every single day.

Human beings should always be known as "Not For Sale".  Every single human being was created as a precious and priceless treasure by the loving hand of God. 

Please join me in the fight against modern-day slavery.  I pray that one day, we see a world in which a price tag is never put on a woman, or a man, ever again.  Let us not stop at a prayer, though- let us take action. 

For more information, email Christine Watson at 24thingsucando@gmail.com.

Or, visit these websites:

A Future. Not a Past.

Love146

Not For Sale: End Human Trafficking and Slavery

Redeem The Shadows

International Justice Mission

Standing In The Eye of The Storm

In this day and age, peace seems to be harder to find than ever before.  Chaos, on the other hand, is seen everywhere one turns his head.  A couple of months ago, though, I discovered the peace that is found in Christ. 

The concept of peace extends to a lot more areas than just that of war.  It extends to each moment of one’s life.  It is so easy to worry about the little things, and even easier to worry about the big things.  I used to believe that worrying was what you were supposed to do.  After all, as a Christ-follower, surely I’m not supposed to be happy about the bad things going on in the world.  And so, I began to let myself worry and be unhappy about the destruction on the earth, which created a new chaos within me.  I shoved peace away, and convinced myself that I should not enjoy it again until I stepped through the pearly gates of Heaven. 

On a day when I was feeling particularly distraught (a racing heart, and an overwhelming desire to just curl up in a corner and hide from the world), I came upon these God-breathed words in 1 Corinthians.  

“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” - 1 Corinthians 14:33

The Lord is not the King of Chaos- He is the Prince of Peace!  When I accepted salvation, and invited the Holy Spirit into my heart, peace became a beautiful part of my life- a part that I was not to push away.It is so important to remember that we worship the Prince of Peace.  Embracing this peace is how we are protected from the death and destruction that is beating on our doors, and it gives us a reason to live each moment with a satisfied smile upon our faces.  As Christians, we ought to live differently than the non-believers that are of this world.  We ought to live in this world, but not be of it.  We ought to act in a way that makes people ask what is different about our lives, and how they can be happy as we are.When that question arises, we may answer with this, from Romans 15:13-

“May the God of hope fill you with all the joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

My brothers and sisters in Christ, do not worry.  Do not be anxious, holding peace at arm’s length.  For you worship the God of Love, Joy, and Peace, and He has saved us from the chaos.