WILL I SEE MY ENEMY IN HEAVEN?
The word enemy is a strong word. It brings with it a heaviness, a feeling of danger, fear, and even war. The dictionary defines an enemy as a thing that harms or weakens something else or a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those that hurt you.” Luke 6:27
There are four very specific commands that we are given when we encounter someone who opposes us or harms us: love, do good, bless, and pray. I don’t know about you but does this sound easy? No way! That’s why the first eight words matter so much yet they are often skipped over. Read them again. “But to you who are willing to listen.”
In order to understand the words that come next your heart has to be in a position to hear what Jesus wants us to learn and then put into action. This is NOT something our human flesh is capable of on our own. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to say, “I am listening!” “Show me how to love, do good, bless and pray for those who hurt me.”
Have you ever experienced an enemy? Fortunately for me I can honestly say I haven’t faced too many enemies in my lifetime. Of course I’ve had my share of feuds, break ups, hardships, and hurt feelings. But never someone I’d consider an “enemy.” However, I did go through a season in my life with a person who truly just did not like me. Every encounter left me feeling angry and I began doubting myself. How do you get through something like this?
I had to rely on my “daily bread” for this one ladies. Our human instinct is to retaliate and to fire back with hateful words. We also tend to want to hide or avoid the situation. But, through my willingness to listen, I learned to hold my tongue and not retaliate. I addressed situations after applying my 24 hour rule so that I could speak calmly and not out of anger (read Crucial Conversations!). I learned to pray before every encounter. I learned to say thank you and be agreeable when my brain was telling me the opposite. And I learned to pray for someone that I really just did not like very much. Could I have done this in my own power? Absolutely not! Only Jesus!
This situation went on for what felt like an eternity but fortunately resolved itself. (That’s a story for another day!). And then here it was again. Luke 6:27. Right in front me. These scriptures about praying for and loving those that hurt you. Ok. Check the box. I did that and now it’s over. But as I went through the day I kept thinking about this scripture and the situation I had gone through.
“Pray for those that hurt you.”
AND
THEN
GOD….
With that quiet voice in my head saying, “you prayed yes, but do you know if you’ll meet your enemy in Heaven?” Yes, I had been praying and I was faithful. But I had been praying for the situation more than the person. And what I realized is that praying for a situation is not the same as praying for someone and their salvation. I had missed that part. Not even comparable.
As we go through life we will meet all kinds of people; some nice some not. We may even meet people with Christian faith that aren’t walking with the Lord. But as we pray through these difficult seasons our prayers should center around our enemy and their eternal life.
We can pray, “Lord, I don’t know if my enemy is saved, but I pray that this person will come to know you if they do not. I give this situation to you. And Lord I know that it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that I am able to love and do good to this person. Please give me the strength and wisdom I need to be a light in this dark situation.” What a totally different perspective!
Luke goes on to write these words from Jesus: “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much!”
These are words from Jesus written in red throughout the Bible. Isn’t that amazing that we have His words right before us? We are called to be different and it’s a calling that often isn’t easy. It’s not easy to love someone or to do good for someone that opposes you. Paul tells us in Ephesians to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Pray and read your Bible – that is where you get your strength! God loves us so much! He wants us to cast these situations upon Him so that He can carry us through the battle. And He will!
My prayer today is that we don’t lose sight of eternity when we are walking through the enemy fire. And instead of praying for a situation to end that we focus on the question of eternity. Will I meet my enemy in Heaven? God will get us through this. He will guide us to love and to do good and to pray. We just have to be willing to listen.
Love to all on this beautiful day!
Heather
