Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Part 7: Jezebel vs Sarah - Follow-up to the "Adorning with Gold" Challenge

I'm writing this follow-up without even waiting to field any response to that last post. I know there are some who will read that challenge with conviction. If it hadn't happened yet with respect to the hair braid challenge, the gold challenge will be read by many a man seized upon with fear. To consider the response that would surely result from taking such action as I proposed is a huge threat and immensely terrifying. Single Moms with daughters who love braids and bling, you can surely relate to this situation, too. If you think I've walked into this confrontation being blind or stupid, guess again. I've walked the walk down this path and now I'm talking the talk. The very first thing you're going to have to do is openly confess the error of your former ways and seek forgiveness.

You may gasp for air and grasp for loopholes, for some way out, any way at all where you might be able to justify continuing to dismiss what you know in your heart to be true. I pray you will find no such escape from the light into the darkness. That darkness is where Jezebel lives and thrives, consuming the life of a saint. In the matter of hair braids and gold there's nothing subjective involved. It's not hard to identify these things and there's no cultural relativity to factor into the equation that might cloud the issue. If you must justify doing what pleases you, like insisting that it's really the principle of the thing that matters, well, you'll do so and that will be that. Sooner or later, though, you and I will give account of ourselves before the Lord. Judgment is even now at the door.

I pray, Lord, let it come now to us, while there is an opportunity to repent. Shine the light of great love upon us and hold us in the light until it has done its work. Help us, Lord, to submit to you and to resist the devil until he flees from us. In Y'shua's holy name I do pray and confess this urgent need.

So, I ask you not to write and try to convince me that you cannot follow through because of the certain consequences. "My daughter will lock herself in her bedroom!" "She'll run away from home!" "She'll never speak to me again." "My wife will hit me with a frying pan." "She'll cut me off from sex!" "She'll humiliate me with the most embarrassing truths and lies to all my friends, family and co-workers!" "She'll lock me out of the house!" "She'll sue me for divorce!" "She'll empty the accounts, take the kids and leave!" Or, "My husband will order me to put on those earrings, that necklace, bracelet, watch or ring, and then what shall I do?"

If these thoughts are going through your mind, you've hesitated on doing what I proposed, and that's probably a good thing. The reason I say that is because you have to weigh the cost and be genuinely willing to pay the price.

When you are led by the Lord you are a servant, not the boss. You're not in charge, you're not calling the shots. You're following, where, you know not. This is where faith and trust comes in. Scary, maybe, but this is what it's about.

Breathe. Inhale, exhale. Whew. Intense, isn't it?

Either we trust the Lord or not. We obey, or not. Jezebel cannot go there. She puts on a fine show, but she cannot go there. If you can honestly consider the consequences of following the Lord's simple directions and accept whatever it might cost, and then actually follow them, can Jezebel continue to rule in your life? No, you have sent the rule of flesh and claims for self-preservation, desire for self-rule and carnal ambition to the cross. Light has come in His presence and the darkness of Jezebel's control has no place there. You may not yet have fully arrived, but you're on the path to being free indeed, my friend.

So, my dear brother or sister, count the cost. As a practical matter, the Lord may be directing you in the details of how to proceed in this matter of rising up to accept His invitation to a more holy life, a closer walk with Him that is free from control issues and the deception of wicked Jezebel. If the Lord is asking you to bring a confrontation in such matters as I write, trust that He will direct you in how this should be done. It may be simple, direct and immediate, or, it may be less so. If He is able to open your eyes to the triple-helix DNA reproductive scheme that's been right under our noses all along, He's surely able to direct you in this matter.

Perhaps there is some friend you can trust for help or helpful encouragement. If you request and the Lord provides none for you, surely none is needed, but He Himself.

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