Silas
Beloved Servant
The prayer you’ve lifted up is heavy with concern for those who bear authority, for the troops under their command, and for the open door of gospel proclamation. Scripture directs us to do exactly this: to offer entreaties, petitions, intercessions, and thanksgivings for all who are in positions of power, so that we might live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. That is good and right. Yet as we pour out these requests, we must keep our footing on an unmovable truth: the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men and gives them to whomever He will. He moved Cyrus, a king who did not know Him, to issue a decree that rebuilt the temple and sent exiles home. He revealed a king’s dream to Daniel when every wise man and enchanter fell mute. No general, no commander, no council of state can outflank the purposes of the Lord. The counsel of the cleverest advisors becomes brutish when they set themselves against the Holy One.
We tend to measure safety by the thickness of armor or the size of a military budget. History tells another story. I think of nations whose treasuries were drained to feed a war machine, only to find themselves bankrupt in spirit and in coin. The prophets speak of a day coming when the arsenal will be dismantled and the smiths will hammer spears into pruning hooks and swords into plowshares. Military budgets, with all their staggering figures, will be re-purposed for agriculture, for abundance, for life. That day is not here yet, but our hope is lashed to it. In the meantime, remember that the gospel will be preached to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people; Jesus said so. And if need be, angels will fly through mid-heaven carrying the everlasting message. The proclamation does not ultimately depend on a government’s permission or a favorable press. The Word of God is not bound, even when its heralds wear chains.
Real freedom, the kind that endures beyond constitutions and elections, is not a creation of courts or legislatures. People can possess every civil liberty and still be slaves to their own cravings. They’re not free at all; they’re bound, doing what they must instead of what they choose. You and I, though, have been set free by the Son. That freedom anchors us when earthly liberties tremble. Use it well. The freedom of speech that is worth protecting is the liberty to call evil what it is and to speak truth in love, not a license to fill the air with what is foul or empty. Watch the words that fall from your own lips. As the Spirit tames the tongue, do not let the speech of the marketplace become your own. Let your conversation come from a different spring.
Be cautious as you wage this spiritual warfare. Our fight is not against flesh and blood and our weapons are not the weapons of this world. Do not slip into imagining that if we only bind enough spirits or dispatch enough angels, we can turn the course of nations according to a timeline we prefer. The Lord knows the schemes of the enemy and can overthrow them in a moment, with or without a human army. Elisha heard in his bedroom what the Syrian king whispered in his chamber; David discerned Saul’s evil intent and trusted God for deliverance. The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and he needs no armored division to reinforce his watch. Pray with fervor, but hand the outcomes over to the One who holds the scroll of history and laughs at the raging of peoples.
In the end, everything we see will give way to the reign of the Prince of Peace. Until then, give thanks that your own name is registered in the heavens, and let that reality steady you. Intercede for your leaders as the Scripture commands, but not as if you were panicked or powerless. You are a branch drawing life from the true Vine, and your quiet fruitfulness speaks louder than ten thousand worried petitions. Stand fast in the freedom wherewith Christ made you free, and trust the One who is able to keep all that you have committed to Him. He is worthy of advance thanks.
We tend to measure safety by the thickness of armor or the size of a military budget. History tells another story. I think of nations whose treasuries were drained to feed a war machine, only to find themselves bankrupt in spirit and in coin. The prophets speak of a day coming when the arsenal will be dismantled and the smiths will hammer spears into pruning hooks and swords into plowshares. Military budgets, with all their staggering figures, will be re-purposed for agriculture, for abundance, for life. That day is not here yet, but our hope is lashed to it. In the meantime, remember that the gospel will be preached to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people; Jesus said so. And if need be, angels will fly through mid-heaven carrying the everlasting message. The proclamation does not ultimately depend on a government’s permission or a favorable press. The Word of God is not bound, even when its heralds wear chains.
Real freedom, the kind that endures beyond constitutions and elections, is not a creation of courts or legislatures. People can possess every civil liberty and still be slaves to their own cravings. They’re not free at all; they’re bound, doing what they must instead of what they choose. You and I, though, have been set free by the Son. That freedom anchors us when earthly liberties tremble. Use it well. The freedom of speech that is worth protecting is the liberty to call evil what it is and to speak truth in love, not a license to fill the air with what is foul or empty. Watch the words that fall from your own lips. As the Spirit tames the tongue, do not let the speech of the marketplace become your own. Let your conversation come from a different spring.
Be cautious as you wage this spiritual warfare. Our fight is not against flesh and blood and our weapons are not the weapons of this world. Do not slip into imagining that if we only bind enough spirits or dispatch enough angels, we can turn the course of nations according to a timeline we prefer. The Lord knows the schemes of the enemy and can overthrow them in a moment, with or without a human army. Elisha heard in his bedroom what the Syrian king whispered in his chamber; David discerned Saul’s evil intent and trusted God for deliverance. The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and he needs no armored division to reinforce his watch. Pray with fervor, but hand the outcomes over to the One who holds the scroll of history and laughs at the raging of peoples.
In the end, everything we see will give way to the reign of the Prince of Peace. Until then, give thanks that your own name is registered in the heavens, and let that reality steady you. Intercede for your leaders as the Scripture commands, but not as if you were panicked or powerless. You are a branch drawing life from the true Vine, and your quiet fruitfulness speaks louder than ten thousand worried petitions. Stand fast in the freedom wherewith Christ made you free, and trust the One who is able to keep all that you have committed to Him. He is worthy of advance thanks.
