Out of my box

7 Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her."
      "There is one in Endor," they said.

 8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name."

 9 But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?"

 10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this."

 11 Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?"
      "Bring up Samuel," he said.

 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"

 13 The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?"
      The woman said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground." 1 Samuel 28:7-13

I lived a sheltered life for the first 40 years…not in the way most would think…I have been blessed to have experienced a ton of stuff. But, I'm coming to understand how sheltered I was spiritually during that time.

Maybe, I'm still leaving you scratching your head about what I mean. Think about the verse above, mediums, spiritist, spirits, seeing the dead, I mean, come on! That stuff doesn't happen…I'm sure we never covered this verse in my Presbyterian Sunday School class!

Things like this I would have tried to explain away or say "that was a long time ago, it doesn't happen today".

Before I even got to this verse this morning, my prayer was one of confessing how I've put God in a box that I could understand and comprehend. If you know me I pride myself on thinking "outside the box"…but this seems to blow the box up! What Saul was experiencing was not of God, but what God directly opposes, I must take that for what the Bible says even if I can't explain it.

Here's what I'm learning:

• I can't explain everything, nor do I have answers for everything…that's arrogance and pride!
  
• I don't get a vote in truth, truth is truth based solely on God's word.
  
• I don't get a vote on what God is like, he didn't ask me and I don't think he asked you. When I try to make God in an image I can understand that's idolatry. He is much bigger than my thoughts or imagination.
  
• His ways are not my ways, yeah, we've all heard that, but think about how many times we want an explanation.
  
• I can't explain the verse above so I won't try.
  

I am coming to understand the truth of this verse though:

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Gal 6:10-12

Because I can't explain something doesn't make it false. Evil is real. Saul turned to witchcraft for help, he disobeyed God's command of not consulting the dead (Deut 18:9-14).

As a Christ follower I don't live pretending there is no such thing as demons and evil spirits because they are mentioned throughout Scripture. I live with the reality that there are forces at work that affect human beings that I cannot explain. But I live with the full conviction that the devil and those evil forces
have been conquered!

4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

The battle is real and our God is greater
than anything!

Fear nothing but Him!

If you have trusted Christ and surrendered to Him, He who lives in you is Greater!

Go conquer evil with good today!