Tuesday, November 21st, 2023
A few days ago, a family member was over to my house. I was talking about my chickens and all of the various predators that have been surveying their coop area as the seasons have started to change. We have had a fox, multiple red-tail hawks and what I believe was a northern goshawk. You can tell these animals are trying to put on some extra layers before winter sets in. After losing a few chickens on Christmas day a few years ago to a fox and hawk combo, we now keep a baby monitor on our chickens so we can listen for their distress calls. I mentioned to my family member that I felt like I had been on high alert the last few days as I had been running outside and chasing away predators. As someone who is still walking out of a life of fear, it’s times like these where I have to make sure I am not giving a spirit of fear access to my soul. In her wisdom, she said to me, “You are the watchman for your chickens.” Something in my spirit rose up when she said that. Instead of seeing the situation as one to fear or be anxious about I was suddenly knighted as a warrior in the battle to guard and keep my chickens.
Back on that sad Christmas day when we lost a few chickens, I initially felt a little disappointed with God. It was a day where we were home, celebrating the birth of Jesus with our family and unbeknown to us, our feathered friends were battling for their lives. I was wrestling between feelings of failure and trying to figure out what we may have done to lose God’s protection. Eventually, I pulled myself together and realized that the food chain and the cycle of life are just a part of life. We realized we needed to do more to protect our chickens, hence the monitor and a few other fencing items. Back to the present-day conversation with my family member. Just as I am the watchman for my chickens, we also have to be the spiritual watchman for the things that God has placed under our care. This could be our children, our spouses, our property, our ministries, our own hearts and minds, etc. This isn’t meant to be a burden we have to shoulder. It’s really more of a spiritual stance.
With Jesus’ death on the cross He purchased the authority over hell and death, and He desires that we carry out our lives with that authority. Let’s look at a few scriptures. Luke 10:19 says:
19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
This is one of those scriptures that sounds incredible, but sometimes we forget its truth and its power. If we all lived out of this scripture, we would never feel defeated or disappointed by any situation. We would declare the name of Jesus into every situation, with the faith to believe that every demon cannot hurt us and must bow. Fear, worry, anger, sadness and hurt would all vanish as we trust that even though our situations may look one way from our physical eyes, our spiritual eyes are focused on the authority that is ours. The next scripture is Philippians 2:10-11:
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This one is very similar to the last. A few weeks ago, I had a vision of a person walking around on the earth and with every step they took they were shouting the name of Jesus. And every time they did, all the high things that had set themselves against Jesus came crashing to the ground turning into rubble. It became this melodious march with a step, a “Jesus” and a victorious tumble of rubble, then another step, another “Jesus” and another victorious tumble of rubble. This scripture fits that vision. Let’s look at James 4:7:
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
I love the simplicity of this scripture. We just need to submit to God and resist the enemy. Resist in the original Greek according to Strong’s means “to stand against.” This is not a posture of fear, it’s a posture of putting on our kingdom armor and realizing that the devil cannot penetrate it. Sometimes we get this scripture mixed up (myself included). We submit to the lies of the enemy. We believe his lies of fear, offense, bitterness and heaviness, and we come under the weight of them. When we do this, we are essentially resisting God. We are forgetting the truths in His Word regarding who we are and who He is. These two things either function together or neither one of them functions. If we are not resisting the devil, we are most likely not submitted to God. If, however, we are submitted to God, then the Holy Spirit will guide us in the areas where we need to resist the devil. There is one last scripture I want to look at. It’s 1 John 4:4:
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
This scripture is one I have often declared at various times in my life. The one who experienced and overcame everything dwells within us and we often have to remind our souls of that. The greatest warrior that has ever existed has taken up residence in our imperfect selves and through Him we too will overcome everything.
Final Thoughts…
We all have different things and people that God has placed under our care. He isn’t just looking for us to care for them in a physical sense, He wants us to use the authority He has given us to be the spiritual watchman for these things. We need to be praying for these things, declaring the truth of God’s word over them and resisting the devil when he tries to steal, kill and destroy them. It’s not enough to sit and hope that everything works out. We have to be active in this battle and do our part to push back the darkness with light, the lies with the truth. This cannot be a task we fear, but one that we courageously take on understanding our role in creation. While it’s true that we are just passing through on this earth, we have a designated and specific role to fill. This role requires participation from us. This isn’t a license to overwork ourselves. It’s an opportunity to be constantly submitted to God, ensuring that we are listening for His still small voice and responding accordingly. If we don’t fulfill our role as watchman, there is no guarantee that someone else will.