Nena Arias | July 17, 2023
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back
is fit for the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 9:62)
Heroes, especially of the faith, are people who make the right decisions, face fear a little longer and don’t run. Does that sound like being a hero is within everyone’s reach? Absolutely! But there is a key to this; you must have strong convictions in what you believe so these will guide you in the face of the challenges. Heroes make decisions long before they are faced with the dangers they will have to act upon.
The Bible tells us of so many heroes of the faith who had to face horrific challenges, who stood alone, many were hated and certainly considered strange, and even dangerous. Yet they were certain of the call of God upon their lives and ultimately didn’t want to disappoint him. On top of all that, heroes of the faith don’t only face powerful human enemies who were leading people into evil and that put their lives in danger. In reality contending for the faith and God’s will means facing powerful spiritual forces of darkness that go for “the jugular” so to speak. God has not only revealed to us who our real enemies are, but he has also equipped us to win. Ephesians 6:11-13 says: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Some of the prophets in the Old Testament might have been respected but they certainly were not treated like celebrities. They were often a single voice in opposition. You can rest assured they felt like it was them against the whole world. However, when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are representing God in a situation, holy boldness grips your heart and God gets the glory.
All that to say this, that God is definitely needing heroes of the faith these days in the world to face so much moral decay where it is not at all popular to defend God’s truth and values. I know there are many of us that have been contending for the faith consistently in the midst of so much moral decay and things only seem to be getting worse by the day. But we must never despair. It takes time and God waits for the precise moment to come on the scene. Many times, it is when the godless seem to be invincible and that they are winning more than us when God makes his move, so it is more obvious who gets the glory.
So, we are to keep working and pray without ceasing in the face of the stubbornness of sin.
America is certainly being controlled at present by powerful wicked rulers for the most part. The more their wickedness is exposed the more they double down. They openly flaunt their defiance of God’s values and demand that we do the same. It is to be expected that these depraved leaders turn their anger and demonic influences against those who refuse to go along with their lawlessness, depravity, and disrespect of God because we stand in their way and bring their sin into the open.
Courage, determination, and wisdom is required from God’s people in the face of such evil. Just as the Bible characters faced the evil of their day, we must do the same. Just as God was with them, he is with us because he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His plan to eradicate evil is still our marching order for today.
We must cry out the clear message that the Lord, he alone is God and there is no other! We will never allow sinful human beings to rule over us indefinitely even if it means to lay down our lives. Cowards will not inherit the kingdom of God.
“The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable … their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
(Revelation 21:7-8)