Angels and Demons

Read Luke 11:14-23 

Starter Prayer:  "Warrior God, Crucified Christ, teach me how evil is really overcome.  Do not let me be part of the problem, but the beginning myself of the answer."  (From Wondrous Encounters by Richard Rohr) 

Some have approached me commenting upon the fact that some of the readings in Wondrous Encounters are more perplexing than clarifying, more disturbing than consoling.  Well, I think that is part of the Lenten situation.  Walking with Christ is not about feeling increasingly better about ourselves.  Walking with Christ is about the truth emerging in all of its raw indictment.  Somebody said to me: "The truth sets us free, but it may hurt like hell first."  

I have never fought against a national evil (at least not face to face).  However, I have stood toe to toe against greed and deception when it threatened to tear my family apart.  Sure enough, I was the least popular in the family for a while.  I was bringing habitual darkness into the light in a way that was overturning many of the extended family's assumptions and expectations.  

I was branded a trouble maker.  Yet in the end, with God's help, the drama ended and things began to move towards reconciliation and new possibilities for hopes and dreams.   

I don't think most of us will be engaged in warfare like this:  

Most likely it will be less spectacular -- something small that could fester and gain momentum if not nipped with love's edge of truth.

Is there something going on around you that could be a small evil waiting to expand?  What help do you need from God to activate a bold yet ultimately loving approach to it?  If you are in the process of this kind of battle and are being named the evil one, how are you seeking God's shelter and protection?  (You can't fight these battles alone -- I'm just sayin')