Devotion
November 2003
It’s not my battle.
I want to tell you a story. This is a personal experience that I believe God is using to teach me about prayer. I was at church a couple of weeks ago and I was there making coffee to serve between services. Our services start at 9:00 and 10:45 on a Sunday morning and this happened at about 9:30. I heard a woman exclaim “I can’t believe it!! We rushed to get here and now they can’t even seat us”. As I looked up and toward the voices I saw a woman and three other people. Two men and another woman. They were headed downstairs to the children’s Sunday school rooms.
I then saw one of my friends (Dave) who is an usher come out of the sanctuary and he looks upset. I asked him what was going on and he points toward the people going down the stairs and explains to me that they wanted 4 seats together and when he couldn’t find them they got upset and left. He pointed out that it was 9:30 and virtually every seat was taken. Our sanctuary is full during both services almost every Sunday. We even have a third service at 6:00 to try and make more room for visitors on Sunday mornings.
Shortly after Dave and I talked, I heard a group of people coming up the stairs. As I looked I saw the four adults that had gone down a few minutes ago and about 6 children. I could tell they were still upset and one of our ushers tried to get them to stay but they would have nothing of it. The woman I heard earlier said “No, we already have our children and we are leaving”. And they did.
The service that Sunday was special because it was going to be an invitation to become a Christian for those that were drawn to Crossroads during this special series covering Genesis to Revelation. This Sunday was going to be used to explain the work of Christ on the cross and what it all means. We had over 60 people accept Christ that Sunday. That is the power of the Holy Spirit at work. But what I witnessed was the power of Satan at work.
Now I am only guessing but I can imagine what happened to the ones who left.
It is Sunday morning and they are trying to get to church on time. The kids are not cooperating. They can’t find their shoes or one of them fell in the mud and had to be changed. I don’t know for sure but I have kids and I can imagine all kinds of things that could have happened on the way to church but in spite of it all they made it. Whew, we got the kids settled and now for some time to listen to the pastor. What, no seats??!! I can’t believe it!! I am not going to stay if I can’t sit together. So they didn’t.
Now, was the problem that we were too full? I don’t think so. I think we are subject to the influence of Satan and he is good at wriggling in the cracks and crevices of our armor. A little irritation can go a long way. I wanted to do something but this was not my battle. I could pray and I did but it did not get them to stay. This was their battle and I don’t know if they won or lost. Maybe I’ll never know for sure but I will keep praying when God brings them to mind because that is all I can do for them unless God brings them into my personal battlefield.
Pray for those you do not know and for those that you meet along the way because it is sometimes all you can do. It will make a difference because that is what prayer does. It makes a difference.
Jerry Robertson
Chaplain