Large Bold Print

When we open the pages of our Bible and begin reading, all the words look the same.  Of course, one exception is what was once called the "red letter edition" which put all the words of Christ inside quotation marks and in red print. With this exception the pages of the Bible seem like an unending sea of printed words, one page after another, after still another.  However, there are also those moments when the Holy Spirit seems to step into the reading process and suddenly a word, or a phrase, or a verse becomes as one written in large bold print.  In a "jumping off the page" fashion,  a word becomes something more than just another word to be read.

This happened for me this morning as I was reading from I Thessalonians.  Toward the end of the second chapter, Paul writes about his desire to see the folks from his past once again.  "...we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face.  For we wanted to come..."  the Apostle wrote.  It was a  moment filled with nostalgia as I thought about the faces that filled the congregations I had served as pastor.  I not only thought of those folks, but also remembered some who are now a part of that great cloud of heavenly witnesses.  And then, there was this dark word which appeared, "...but Satan blocked our way."  But in reality, it read more like, "...BUT SATAN BLOCKED OUR WAY."

It is not often we give Satan much credit for anything.  In similar moments most of us would have spoken of the Lord hindering us instead of affirming the blocking power of Satan.  Maybe doing so avoids some of the hard questions.  Is Satan real or myth?  Why is Satan allowed such prevailing power?  Does God use the blocking power of Satan in directing our path?  In another letter Paul wrote, "Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."  (Ephesians 6:11)  Maybe the Apostle was on to something most of us would rather ignore.