Between a Rock and a Hard Place

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure your faith-life is forced into the open to show its true colors. So, don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons, loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life!" (James 1:2-4, 12 The Message)

I don't like hard times. You know, those times that require pushing past limits and comfort levels? It's not that I prefer the status-quo; anyone who knows me well would tell you I can't settle for that either. For me, though, pressing past an obstacle is something I kinda have to work up to, gradually.

I'm not real keen on getting bloody and beaten-not physically, but spiritually. If getting bloody and knowing that a fight is imminent, I will normally bow out gracefully. It's called a forfeit.

When my kid brother, Brad, played basketball there were rare occasions in which a team would just not show up to the match. It wasn't common, but it did happen. The game was forfeited and Brad's team automatically was credited with a win for that week.

I'm certain the same thing happens in the spirit-realm when Believers fail to 'show up' at a challenge. We do this when we refuse to face our sins, our fears, our doubts. Christians today are so adept at self-deception. The word the Holy Spirit keeps quickening to me is "Abdication". It means to renounce a throne or some claim; to relinquish a right, power or trust. To give up or renounce an office, duty or authority, especially in a voluntary, public or formal manner.

Church, we abdicate our authority every time we refuse to take a stand against the enemy. We hand him the chains, lock and key with which we become bound and oppressed!

John Bevere, in his book, "The Bait of Satan" wrote:
"Stay in your authority, or someone will take it from you and use it against you!"

Many of us have had our personal power stripped from us at a young age. Abuse, exploitation, and neglect leave a vacant place in our souls which we scramble to fill. For some, they utilize control and manipulation, for others, they abuse as they were abused, and for others, they learn to lie down and play dead. Life's challenges become a perpetual steam-roller that flattens them every so often. They become accustomed to scraping themselves up and hiding out until they're almost okay. Then they head back out, attempting to not draw any attention to themselves in the interim.

I fall into the "play dead" group. I affectionately call us The Opossums. I tend toward the mindset that says, "Maybe if I lie here long enough, my predator/attacker/difficult situation/reality check will walk away and leave me alone."

Just in the past few days, the Lord has admonished me about this attitude. He said to me, "Jennifer, you must stop expecting so little from yourself, and so little from ME!"

Now, you have to understand, we Opossums play dead because we are certain nobody sees any value in us, so they certainly aren't going to help us or rescue us; thus, we don't even bother to ask. We will run as hard and as fast as we can from our predator (we really aren't strong runners...) but once the foe is breathing down our necks, we just flop over, jerk our leg a few times and hold our breath. All the while we're thinking, "Just go away! Just go away! Don't you see how dead I am? I'm not worth your time! Oh, Lord make him go away!" That's the only time we remember to call on the Lord!

So, in playing dead, I forfeit the game! An automatic win is tallied in the enemy's score book and I am left feeling even more inept, worthless and weak than ever! It truly is a sickening cycle! UGH!

But James told us the determined man or woman will 'live large'! (1:12 Jen's Vsn.)
Hmmm...in order to walk in my true God-given identity and inheritance I must be determined and withstand! I must know I am not expected to accomplish and defeat on my own! What a clever concept!

This is how King David saw it:
"My salvation and honor
Depend on God
He is my Mighty Rock,
My Refuge!" (Ps. 62:7 NIV)

Playing Opossum is not honorable! When I do that, all I am really doing is nursing the victim-mentality I've formed over many, many years of abuse and abdication. When I consider that God is MY ROCK, MY REFUGE, why would I choose to play dead and forfeit the blessings that accompany overcoming?!?

Beloved, this message is for me as much as it is for any of you. I pray that God will show Himself dependable and sure in the trying time you face...and in the trying time I face, too! God alone is Our Rock, Our Salvation, Our Fortress (Ps. 62:2), so finding ourselves between a Rock and a hard place must mean one thing:
Certain Victory! Praise be to God who causes us to triumph!

Don't fear the challenge, Beloved. Remember, the determined man or woman will obtain the Abundant Life. Take Courage! Anchor in your Rock, today. He absolutely, positively, without a doubt is a Sure Thing!

Jennifer Barnes
UPLIFT! Editor