Today, let’s talk about confusion!
The dictionary defines the word confusion as “lack of understanding; uncertainty, a situation of panic; a breakdown of order, the state of being bewildered or unclear in one’s mind about something”.
I mean, if we are being honest, the last line there could sum up the entirety of 2020 so far. “The state of being bewildered or unclear in one’s mind about something”.
I know I am not the only one who has had conflicting opinions about, pretty much, everything since January! I have had plenty of conversations that are expressing the same confusion as I experience on a daily basis.
I have spent hours with our church family trying to figure out solutions to issues we are so unfamiliar with, answering questions and choosing sides of issues that have VERY blurred lines, to say the least.
We as humans want structure, order, and consistency. Even if we admit it or not we need those things. I think it’s pretty clear, considering recent events, the world NEEDS those things. The problem is we don’t have any of that right now! Everything bit of “normal” is changing, every bit of “law and order” is changing, every “information outlet” is as flighty as the wind. We are having an immensely difficult time recognizing or uncovering the TRUTH in 2020 and it’s all because of confusion.
The very first deception in the bible began with confusion! In Genesis 3 the serpent begins a conversation with Eve. He says “did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Eve responded, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”.
God never told Adam and Eve that they “must not touch the fruit on the tree in the middle of the garden”. The devil here confuses Eve on what God actually said.
This is, in essence, the tactic he has been using since the beginning of time!
This is the same lie that he has caught the entire world. He confused Eve and made her choose to seek WISDOM over God.
He encapsulated Eve in confusion. Where she no longer fully remembered what God said because for a moment she took her eyes off of her Creator and placed them on what was “pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom”.
The devil wanted Eve to think that God was keeping wisdom from her, when in reality, God was shielding them from “the knowledge of good and evil”. He was shielding Adam and Eve from a life of pain, tragedy, struggle, suffering, and death.
I wonder how many of us God is trying desperately to shield from evil but we keep stepping out from under His covering because of things that are “pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom.”?
The devil is still active, he is still lying to people, he still “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”. It’s abundantly clear the devil is still working in our world. We see it every time we turn on the tv or pick up our phones. I can’t help but think that God’s heart is breaking because we are seeing things we should never have had to. We are experiencing things we were never created for.
The only place I find hope in 2020 is knowing that even before the foundations of the world God had a plan! A plan that is far greater than any we could ever imagine, a plan of resurrection, of redemption and of rescue.
His plan was, is, and will always be Jesus! His plan was to send a savior to live a sinless life, endure a torturous death on the cross, be buried in a tomb, and RISE from death on the 3rd day. His plan even goes farther than that! Jesus wasn’t just accessible to us 2000 years ago. He’s accessible here, now, right where you’re sitting, standing, reading, relaxing… He’s there and available to you ALWAYS!
The bible says “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:8
That passage says the devil is LIKE a roaring lion. Guess what? Our Jesus IS the Lion of Judah and this is what scripture says about Him. “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered…”
Revelation 5:5a
That is what I am choosing to put my hope in! Even though confusion on this earth abounds and truth seems to be nowhere to be found I’m leaning into what I do know!
Jesus!
I’m choosing to stand under the shielding of God and keeping my eyes on Him. I’m leaning into Him for structure, order, and consistency because He’s the only thing in all of creation that will be able to provide that for us!
My prayer for you is that you choose the same and that our world sees this confusion for what it is, a pitiful deception of a devil who is fighting a losing battle.
I’m praying for VICTORY in Jesus’ Name!
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