Obfuscation
I was praying on Valentine’s Day about the election, and the word “obfuscation” kept coming to me. I wasn’t sure of two things: how to pronounce it or what it means. But I sensed that it was a strategy to bring confusion to the American people and their vote, and I also felt that I was to pray that God would bring forth effective strategies to overturn all the strategies of obfuscation.
The word means “to make obscure or unclear; to darken.”
As I tore this word apart, I found three similar definitions that are distinctly different in their connotations. I sensed that there are three corresponding groups of people upon which the strategy of obfuscation is being applied: those who are well-meaning and “live and let live” types; the me-first, pleasure/gratification-driven crowd; and the church.
Here are the three definitions:
To confuse. This is the strategy of temporary interference with the clear working of one’s mind through causing confusion, unsettledness, embarrassment, or a multitude of distractions. This strategy is used with the well-meaning, live and let live crowd who want to pull their own weight and make good choices. It is intended to push them off-balance and to confuse them in their decision-making processes. They are manipulated while they are confused.
To stupefy. This is the strategy to remove sensibility, to benumb the faculties, to put into a stupor, to stun as with a narcotic, a shock, or a strong emotion. This strategy is used with the me-first crowd and the pleasure/gratification-driven crowd. They are manipulated and controlled through the daze of their pleasures and the promise of unending gratification.
To bewilder. This strategy is all about causing its targets to stagger and be confounded at the immensity of the forces that defy them. It is used to muddy the waters and cause targets to lose both their hope and their way. This strategy is intended to cause targets to wander aimlessly, unanchored and without vision. This is the strategy of obfuscation that is being used against the church. When our hope is lost, we become unanchored; without a vision, we perish.
So as I pray about this election, I realize that obfuscation is being used against American people of all stripes. I will be praying for God to bring light to these strategies, and that the intended targets will wake up and wise up to see that what they’ve been thinking and feeling isn’t completely true. I’ll be praying that light will illuminate the minds of the hundreds of millions of my fellow citizens to see clearly—perhaps for the first time in their lives—and to make wise decisions that will not only affect the course of this election, but also the course of their individual lives and the nation.
And I’d like for you to join me.
Dorothy
Read MoreHow do I pray for our nation?
How do I pray for my country? Just by asking this question, you show your desire to shoulder your part of the prayer load, and I believe this pleases God. Even though the problems in our nation appear to be innumerable and unnervingly complex, God has called His people to pray and seek His face concerning the welfare of the nation in which they live.
The good news is this: You don’t have to cover it all—God will show you your part to pray each time you go to Him; He will lead you to that portion of the puzzle about which He’s anointed you to pray that day. When you start to sense a leading from Him, pray on it in faith—even if you wonder if it’s just you. God wants to use your prayers to bring about His will in that specific thing.
As you purpose to pray daily for the nation, the topic may change or stay the same; all the while you are learning to let Him lead—and all the while your prayers are being effective.
Imagine how much can be accomplished if each of us simply asked God to help us pray for our nation at some point during the day. That which would be too much for one solitary person to shoulder will be accomplished by the Spirit of God as He individually reveals to each one their part to pray each day.
One of my pastors says something all the time about the huge projects our church undertakes: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
Well, how will we see the boiling cauldron that is the United States transform once again to a city set on a hill, bathed in the light and mercy of God? One prayer in one mouth at a time, multiplied by the multitude of souls in the church—both American and worldwide—multiplied by the hours still left us, multiplied by the immeasurable glory of God!
And that, my friend, is how we pray for our nation.
Dorothy
Read MoreCain
Has this ever been you? You put your best foot forward, you do your best, you dress for success, you learn the song and dance…and the other guy…the other gal…gets the promotion, gets the recognition, gets the honor. Not you.
Well, it was a rough day for Cain, too. He and his brother Abel had presented their offerings to the Lord, but God regarded Abel and his offering (Genesis 4:4). Period. End of sentence. Not a word was said about Cain’s contribution. And Cain became angry. His countenance fell.
You can find all kinds of Bible teachers explaining the reasons for God’s snub—and that’s certainly a worthy topic to pursue.
However, instead of going there, I just want to take a look at the relationship between Cain and God…and meddle a bit about what so many of us deal with from time to time.
What was going on inside of Cain? He simply wanted an “atta boy” about his offering; he also wanted to be recognized for his accomplishments. I can relate. Can you?
Cain was angry that he didn’t get the recognition he felt he deserved. And it was written all over his face for everyone to see.
The Lord sought him out right after that and gave him one-on-one, tender counsel. He asked Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?” (Verses 6-7.) It’s obvious that God didn’t hate Cain; He cared deeply for him.
Wouldn’t that have been a perfect time for Cain to ask the Lord what He wanted from him? Instead, the Bible records nothing about any attempt Cain made to look into the matter.
No; Cain wanted what he wanted—recognition and honor—and he wanted it on his own terms, not God’s.
Of course, God knew that, so He left Cain with a clear and sober warning: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (verse 7).
And you know, this is what God says to all of us when we feel burned by disappointments, slights, or being overlooked. Whenever someone else gets that position, recognition, or nod that you secretly craved, God’s there, nonetheless, loving you consistently. He’s there to dust you off and give you fresh direction—for the asking.
He’s not there, however, (and oh, how I sometimes wish He was!) to commiserate, badmouth your opponent, stroke your ego, or pet your wounds. No; He simply loves you and wants to show you how to hold your head high through all your let downs.
If you think this sounds harsh and uncaring of God, you need to know that He doesn’t “poor baby” you for a reason—the same reason He gave to Cain.
If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?
Bluntly stated, when you spend time rehearsing the wrongs done to you or magnifying your wounds, you are not doing well. Of course, if you’re in an abusive situation, God wants and expects you to get help; however, stroking the pain of slights or disappointment is not the same thing as getting help for abuse.
Notice—God did not tell Cain it would be easy to stop fixating on his disappointment; but He told him to move on, nevertheless.
If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.
As good as it feels to your flesh and your sense of “righteous indignation”, rehearsing the wrongs you’ve experienced and exalting your wounds is not “doing well”. And the longer you stroke those things, the longer you postpone help from God. Why? Because you’re not obeying Him!
God warned Cain about the way sin worked. It crouched at the door of his life, poised like a lion waiting to pounce, watching for an opportunity to tear him apart.
And—way before the redemptive work of Christ—God placed the responsibility squarely upon Cain’s shoulders as to the outcome when He stated, “but you must master it.”
How much more now—in the day of freedom, grace, and redemption—is God saying to you and to me, “Master it”? The instant you resist the devil, he will flee. Stand your ground when slights, disappointments, misunderstandings, or misrepresentations slap you in the face, and determine that for your part, you will do well—you will trust God, you will continue to press on, you will hold your head high—and you will not fall prey to the never-fruitful pursuit of pettiness and self-justification.
Do well and free your countenance!
Dorothy
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith…1 Peter 5:8-9a
Read MoreLight and order vs. darkness and disorder
What happens when you turn on the light? You can see where you’re going—unless your surroundings are full of disorder and chaotic confusion.
God impressed on my heart that 2016 will be a year of Light and Order. All too often I’ve found myself bogged down in disorder—whether in my natural surroundings, in my relationships, or in the outcome of snap decisions birthed from not seeking God first.
The Bible has much to say about Light. One of my favorite verses has been John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
This Scripture comforted and equipped me when I was a new Christian. I had witnessed many of my friends fall into the confusion of cults or carnality, so I clung to this verse and trusted Jesus to keep me in the Light as I followed Him.
But does the Bible touch on the topic of order? Absolutely. The entire testimony of Scripture highlights God’s order for man, for the earth, and for all of life and nature. Two main Scriptures come to mind on this topic, and a third—a very obscure verse—jumped out at me about order/disorder a couple of weeks ago as I was reading the Word.
First Corinthians 14:33 concludes a discussion about the use of charismatic gifts in church meetings. Paul sums it up this way: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints,” and in verse 40 admonishes, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (KJV; emphasis added). Order, according to these references, is the polar opposite of confusion, and at the same time it flows in harmony with peace.
The apostle James also spoke of disorder to a group of believers who apparently tore into one another on a regular basis in jealous fits. He warned them, “…if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth” (James 3:14). He continued, “This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic” (verse 15).
Tying it all together, he flatly rebuked them. “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing” (verse 16; emphasis added).
How’s that for a well-deserved slap in the face? James equated disorder with every evil thing. I don’t know about you, but I want none of that!
One Scripture, though, brought it all home for me concerning the connection between Light and Order. And it came from an unexpected source—troubled Job in the middle of his horrible ordeal.
His friends—who initially came to comfort him after suddenly losing his ten children, his health, and his wealth—ended up reproving and scorning him in his misery. Outraged and despairing, Job longed for death and lamented, “Before I go—and I shall not return—to the land of darkness and deep shadow, the land of utter gloom and darkness itself, of deep shadow without order, and which shines as the darkness” (Job 10:21-22; emphasis added).
In his misery, Job prophetically linked darkness with disorder. The two go hand-in-hand in the same way that their opposites do—Light and Order.
And isn’t it interesting that the source of all of Job’s misery was neither his arrogance, his sin, nor his dysfunction (as his friends had smugly insinuated)? No; the very root of Job’s woe originated from the one who came to steal, kill, and destroy—the accuser of the brethren—the devil.
Although Job never discerned the source of his troubles throughout the ordeal, he knew in his gut that it had something to do with darkness and disorder. You see, any time the devil attacks, he brings with him the darkness which emanates from his kingdom, and he injects the disorder that spews from the very core of his nature.
Therefore, if you ever find yourself in a season of confusion, disorder, darkness, or gloom, recognize this: Your enemy is attempting to interject himself into the equation of your life. Here’s the good news—try as he might, this god of darkness and disorder is no match for the Light of the world, the Word made flesh—Jesus Christ.
Your job at these times is to turn on the Light—call out to your Lord and open His Word. Let Him speak to you through its pages, and rejoice that His Light still shines in darkness…and that the darkness never could—and never will—overpower it.
Dorothy
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5
Read More2016—The Year of Light and Order
My time away from the blog to seek God was wonderful, but it was quickly followed by massive “spring” cleaning in January, followed by a hysterectomy, followed by a season of forced relaxation and recuperation. It’s good to get back to writing!
In the next few blogs, I will be sharing some things that have come alive to me so far this year in my personal Bible reading. Later on, I plan to continue the series in 1 Peter. But first, I want to share something that God showed me in prayer just before Christmas. I believe it is a directive for the year ahead of us—2016.
As I was praying with a small group of women three days before Christmas, I saw a darkened living room in the middle of the night, illumined only by a dying fire. I saw a wrapped present descend, gently landing at the base of an unlit Christmas tree. And I sensed God saying to my heart, “I am distributing gifts of order to my people throughout the Church. It is theirs to unwrap, open and receive—if they are willing.”
I knew that order would be custom-made, individually-crafted for each one of us, His children. And I also knew that each one of us was in desperate need for His order to arrive afresh in our lives. I called 2016 the Year of Order.
As Christmas week rolled on, my pastor prepped the church for the year to come. One thing that stood out to me was his declaration that 2016 would be a Year of Light. I grasped that and mulled it over in prayer as the New Year dawned.
2016, a year birthed in an era of chaos and darkness, was to be filled with Light. And Order.
How does order come if there is no light? Well, turn out your lights and try to clean your house. It doesn’t work so well, does it?
If we want to navigate effectively in a fallen world, we must embrace the Light of the gospel. The Light of the Word. The Light Himself, Jesus. We must be willing to let His light shine into our private lives, our relationships, our time usage, our thoughts, our words, our habits, our health….into everything, whether it’s comfortable to us or not.
And it’s funny what Light does. It shows everything as it is, including the disorder that all too often accompanies our lives. However, I believe that as you spend time basking in the Word and fellowshipping with the Light of the world Himself, you will not only see the disorder for what it is, but you will also receive light on how to bring it all back into order.
And even that which recently has had the power to trip you up and defeat you time and again will be brought into wonderful order by the One whose Light will illumine your life.
This is your year—The Year of Light and Order.
Dorothy
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