There is an old saying, ‘You cannot make an omelette unless you are willing to break some eggs!’ This has many meanings but one meaning refers to the fact you may have to risk something and not look back to get something you want, because you cannot put the egg back in the shell. The founding fathers knew this. To get the rights they wanted, they had to be willing to risk their own lives, their families, and the lives of their countrymen, in war where people will die to gain their independence from Britain. George Washington was on the battlefield, sweating, working, fighting, killing, and risking his own life to make this happen. Now I am sure he did not enjoy the killing and risking, etc… that came with war, but he knew that to get something you want you have to be willing to suffer and to risk while knowing that he could not go back.

I was on the couch with my son a few weeks ago. We were watching a cartoon about a young man who finds he is selected to lead an army of good trolls against an army of bad trolls. He is given a suit of armor and a magic sword. My son said to me, “Daddy, isn’t that cool? Wouldn’t it be cool to be in such a fight?” I told him, “Well, since we are followers of the Lord, we have been selected for and ARE in such a fight, we do have a magic suit of armor and a magic sword, and we do have a very powerful enemy.” But our enemy is not some monster that we can see, it is inside of us and inside others.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The monster we fight against is spiritual. However, the Lord has already defeated him. The adversary counts for nothing against the power the Lord has. That does not mean he is not powerful. He is and for me, for every Star Wars 4: A New Hope, there seems to be two Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith.  I believe that like Star Wars, the process of confronting the bad takes some breaking and making and sweating and risking. The Lord cannot make a beautiful and tasty omelette if we are not willing to let Him crack us out of our comfort shells and put us on the grill. And more often than not, we cannot go back.

Life can crack us and put us on the skillet. Disappointments, scary medical situations, getting fired from a job, the breakup of relationships, seeing loved ones die in front of you, seeing your business fail, seeing your children make bad decisions (remember, everything happens for a reason, sometimes the reason is that you are stupid and make bad decisions!), a dream deferred, losing your keys, being late, etc… all can put us on the grill of life. But the Lord would not have allowed it unless He knew that you; you and He; you and He and other people you depend on; He, you, other people you depend on, and a good counselor and/or anti-depressant could handle it.

The big difference for the person of faith is, can we use these bad decisions (of ours or others) or bad things that just seem to come out of the blue-through no fault of our own, to grow in faith and trust in the Lord, in ourselves, and in those around us? We are not meant to deal with them all by ourselves. We are meant to take some of them together.

The Bible says that nothing happens outside of the Lord’s will and somehow the Lord is in complete control. It NEVER says that we have the capacity to understand it nor are we to sit around thinking about WHY such and such happened (Lord, I don’t want to be an omelet!). Lets get on with the business of living and when the eggs of life crack, lets somehow aspire to be like George Washington and engage the battle with our magic sword of the Word of God and the Belt of Truth and the Shield of Faith and Helmet of Salvation.

Ephesians 6:10-18: inally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

———————————————————————-W.