#Arise Protected

By Kolleen Lucariello

During the course of this year, it's been our objective to allow God to show us, from His Word, how to shake off anything that he considers a contaminant. We want anything that hinders his daughters from rising and taking their place in the kingdom identity they have in Christ to be removed. This purpose has opened the door to some challenging conversations.

This month, we encounter more of the same as we endeavor to shake off our incessant desire to fight battles with agendas we've created through self-preservation. Ouch! The Israelites often fell into self-preservation mode in times of affliction or when God had gone silent. (Why is it that when I can't hear God I assume it's a sign to push forward with my own plan?)

One of those moments happened following Moses lengthly encounter with God on the mountain. The people didn't know what happened to him so they decided to build a new god – the Golden Calf. Shocked by his return they exclaimed, "Oh, Moses! You're back! Golden Calf? What Golden Calf?" When confronted by Moses Aaron replied, "I don't know how it happened! I threw some dust in the fire and out jumped this idol." (Exodus 32:24, Kolleen's paraphrase). As you can imagine, this created for some tension between the people and Moses. It also invoked serious tension between the people, Moses, and God. Self-preservation creates tension.

Tension that caused Moses to react by throwing the stone tablets he'd received from God during their intimate encounter on the mountain. God was so mad that he said, "I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way” (Exodus 33:3, NET). It seems God needed to remove himself from the people to protect them from his anger. This caused tension between Moses and God that prompted a responsewhen God insisted that Moses take the people and move on without him. God's protection also creates tension.

How did Moses respond to God's indictment? Intercession; he began to intercede on behalf of the people God was ready to abandon. Moving on without God was never going to be an option for Moses. So, "Moses said, 'If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here'" (Exodus 33:15, NET). It appears that moving on without the people wasn't an option, either. Notice he said, "with us?" Moses had his share of relational storms, but not once did he ask God to crush the people around him so he could be left alone. Self-preservation wasn't part of Moses' itinerary. Instead, intercession was.

Self-preservation can easily turn our hearts inward to where we are consumed by thoughts of “me first!" "I need to care only about me right now." "The only opinion that matters is mine." "I'll say (or post) whatever I want, because, well, free speech!" Would you have blamed Moses if he had given into the tempting option of self-preservation? "God is right! You people are stiff-necked and I am done with you!"

I'd never try to convince you that I avoid those sneaky self-preserving thoughts. Quite possibly, this is why the Lord's been prompting me to remove this false stronghold from my repertoire and allow him to adjust the narratives I often rehearse.

Moses, it would seem, had been able to guard his heart against self-preserving thoughts throughout the difficult journey he had with his fellow Israelites. How did he manage to do this? Was he the poster child of Proverbs 4:23 that instructs us to, “Guard our heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (Proverbs 4:23. NLT). He was able to endure a difficult journey with a multitude of people through regular encounters with God. Did he react a few times? Yes, absolutely and when he chose anger over encounter he paid a high price.

On the flip side, when his fellow Israelites catered to self-preservation and moved God to anger, Moses was moved to deep intercession. It was through his intercession for them, that they experienced God's protection when their agenda to preserve self backfired. How would our faith journey look if we made a commitment to intercede rather than react to one another?

I am deeply aware of the pain we inflict on one another with our backbiting and cutting words. Who feels protected when they've experienced a hurt or betrayal by a sister in Christ or family member? These tense moments between people might cause loneliness and feelings of abandonment. When that happens we always have a choice to make: will we prepare our own battle plan or perhaps create our agenda for how we will fight back or settle the score?

As someone who often reacted to the tension, the Lord has been teaching me the value of Moses' commitment to not move in any direction without the presence of God. If Moses concluded that the safest place to remain, even in the midst of relational tension, was wherever God's presence was, shouldn't we find safety there, too? My failure to this commitment ensures me that self-preservation will surface. If I deploy self-preservation, I fail to take the impact of my words or actions into consideration and this invites the tension we experience today.

God desires to protect us from self-preservation by reminding us that his battle plan doesn't replicate the way of the world. If the agenda we cling to, or the battle plan we've created has been designed with self-preservation in mind, our reliance has been misplaced. Guard your heart against impatience and reckless words.

Fear is intimidating and wants to catapult us into determining our own course of action when conflict rises. We've all been there—especially in the difficult waters caused by relationship conflict. How do we handle the tension at this time when culture wars tempt us to lash out against one another? We may feel submerged by the waters of relational storms when someone behind a screen uses their fingers to tap out messages intended to crush anyone with a differing viewpoint.

The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that any battle plan we create outside of God's protection will be far different than his. When emotions rise up due to someone's unkindness, we don't need to react harshly to one another to make our point. Remember Jesus' words to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44). There's that intercession, again! If we are to pray for those who are hostile, as Moses did, we are going to need to guard our heart.

But, how do we guard our heart from the bruising we encounter through our interactions with one another? One option is to allow God to become our GPS—our God Positioning System. When we've been insulted, ridiculed, ignored or hurt, it is quite natural to take that immediate exit ramp and react. However, taking the approach of Moses, if we become determined to not move until we've had an encounter with God's presence, we will be better equipped to hear our GPS. We follow him to the exit the ramp, then we pause and allow him to recalculate our heart so we can respond appropriately.

When you are under the crushing weight of difficult circumstances and your feelings want to become the source for your reference of truth, remember feelings are fickle. They shouldn't be ignored, but don't grant them permission to pull to you into the stormy waters just to prove a point at the expense of your own peace. Guard your heart against the false stronghold of self-preservation that is built when we put up walls of protection that push people out, keep wounds in and falsely assume God has abandoned you.

It is time to #AriseProtected through complete surrender to Christ. He is able to lead you and teach you how to navigate the rough stormy waters we experience with one another—storms we are promised will assail us in this life. In Christ, you have a kingdom identity worth embracing. One that will help you respond to others in a spirit of love that Jesus had and told us to use. Be mindful that fear leads to self-preservation but perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18).

So this month we begin a journey together and we ask God to protect us from self-preservation. We no longer need to close and lock doors to one another. We can pray for those we have difficulty with by asking God to give us eyes to see one another as Jesus does—a life created in the image of the Father, worthy of salvation. As we pray for one another we fulfill God's command to, “Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ ” (Galatians 6:1-2, NET).

How can we pray for you as you prepare to readjust your battle plan?