Heads Up!

Heads Up!

1/13/13

Our bodies are equipped with a formation on the top of our structure called a head.  It is a fascinating object that sits there and basically controls every movement that we make.  We have many names for this object and while some of us see others that walk with their heads down most of the time we still have the capability to improve our posture and to raise up our heads and to see what is around us.  When are heads are down we blind ourselves to what is coming towards us and it is not until after we are hit with something that we tend to look up and see what just happened.  We need to change this habit of walking with our heads down so that we may have a fighting chance to defend ourselves with what our enemy is doing to us.

We have all heard of the phrase “head’s up!”  We all understand what that phrase means as well and if we ignore those words when they are spoken, or yelled, in our direction we increase our chances of being hit with some sort of flying object.  We also know that with everything that is going on around us it is physically impossible to always have our heads in the upright position and that we must rotate on a continual basis to grasp the full view of our surroundings.  However, if we continue to look in one direction, besides forward, in this type of manner we are surely going to have some type of problem in the very short future.  I guess that this type of human activity also falls into the same question as to why people at sea continually look up to the sky.

Now, with my sick sense of humor I have always found the statement of head’s up to be kind of funny.  In my opinion if you are not paying attention to what is going on around you and you hear this phrase the first thing that humans usually do is look up and find the person or people who are saying the warning phrase.  Then, by the time you locate that specific person and look up in the sky to see where the object is coming from most of the time it is already too late and you have just been hit or the object has landed close by the position that you are in at that moment.  So, because of that scene that I have in my head that should tell you that I have heard that phrase coming from someone but have never actually been hit with an object that I was not expecting and I shall not bring up any past experiences where I have been expecting objects to approach my position but have totally missed them and gotten hit anyway.

And all of us have witnessed or have wanted to witness someone walking along the street or sidewalk while reading a book or newspaper or with the new fad today with people texting away and then smacking into an object that if they only had their head up would have missed completely.  Even though this is funny this portion of the scene is not the best part.  The best part is that the people who accomplish this sometimes painful but hilarious act immediately begin to look around and to see if anyone saw what had just happened, dusts themselves off and continue on the street doing the exact same function that caused them the pain and embarrassment in the first place.  So all of you kids out there whose parents ask you if you have your head on straight there is a reason for this statement and it is only for your own good.

It is inevitable that if we continue to walk with our head down and refuse to look up and pay attention to what is coming and going around us, we will at some point run into trouble and pain will be inflicted on our lives, this is not a maybe this is a guarantee.  Humans also tend to forget that this type of activity occurs within our spiritual lives as well.  When we are travelling along our spiritual path of life these spiritual rocks become a part of our path and if we do not have our heads up and looking about, they will hit us and leave us to die.  These rocks may be spiritual ones but they also affect our physical lives as well and since we have to react to these circumstances it is a must that we understand that they exist.

There are three types of rocks that cause us to look down on this path.  The first type is the ones that are buried within our road in which we have no option of avoiding, these are a part of our lives that we inherit and we live with these our entire lives.  They are big enough that we have to stop and go around them as we pass their presence in our path.  These types of rocks are embedded within our path and cannot be removed but in certain instances we are reminded of their existence and that is when they become a distraction.  This type of rock was discussed in the Bible in the Book of John about a blind man but it was God who changed the inherited path of this person.  The person could not remove this rock from his life and even though he had lived with it for his entire life he inherited the rock and the man trusted God enough to change the “composition” of his rock. 

This type of rock will appear at any time along our road of life and we must understand that it is a product of man and not of God.  It is also a rock that we do not have an option to correct either and it is totally up to God and His healing power to correct.  This type of rock is a burden on our lives and many times we do not understand why God has allowed this type of rock to be developed within our lives but we do have the comfort that God does know what is happening within our lives and even though we have to bend down and maneuver around this rock He is right there to guide our steps as we pass the rock.  It is at this time when we are watching our rock passing our enemy that we like to believe will leave us alone with our inherited condition brings his own frustrations to a head within our lives and complicates our maneuvers around the rock.  Yes, our enemy is that cruel and this is when he shows the world his true colors. 

The second type of rock is the type that we voluntarily place on our path.  This type of rock is dangerous since we place it on our road.  We call them defensive mechanisms and we place them in strategic places within our lives (road) that we believe will protect us from going through similar circumstances in the future.  We may think that what we are doing is a security measure but in reality we are placing obstacles in our life that we will have to go back and remove in order for our road to be correctly travelled upon.  It is this type of rock that hurts the most since it is one that was not present our entire life and that we have built it well enough to that we incorporate these rocks as permanent structures within our lives.  They are built to last and since we dig into our lives and prepare the ground for the new protection it is our inner being that attaches to this rock and views it as a healing measure and mechanism when in fact that the rock becomes a source of decay and eventual death of our inner man.

It is while we are building this type of rock that we are looking down towards the ground and it is assured that some type of added circumstance will occur while we are constructing this rock within our life.  What is interesting about this type of rock is that is made of human origins.  The stones that we make come from the ground, our own composition which our inner beings accept as a natural replacement and therefore do not fight the building process.  Think about that statement for a bit and it will become clear of why the walls that we build serve as a natural barrier in our lives and are so easily built and very difficult to let o of when the time is needed.  I have a feeling that I will be dealing with type of rock in a future article. J

So at another point in our lives it never fails that we end up having to deal with these types of rocks in our path and when this time occurs it is a painful process and it is never easy.  This is true even if we allow God to take care of as well.  Yes, God will be glad to break this rock up and He has no problem with this but in this instance we will be reluctant in accepting this process and usually stand around and try and “help” with the rocks as He is breaking it up and some of us actually pick up the pieces and try to place them into our “pockets” for future remembrance.  It is difficult to rid ourselves of this type of rock since it is a part of our lives which has basically the same consistency as our composition and another reason is that we made it and we do not especially do not want to give up since the definition of mine is exemplified in the structure of the rock.  But God does have a plan for that rock and that plan does not include its presence on our path but we still have to deal with the scars that it leaves behind, but this is where the rocks become strangely dim after their proper removal from our lives.

The third rock is actually the rock that I had wanted to deal with in depth but after reading the previous two types of rocks I do not know how much more in depth I can get with this rock.  This type of rock is the ones that our enemy loves to throw at us along our road of life.  It is these types of rocks that are foreign to our lives since they are not of our knowledge and they are constructed of elements that are designed to inflict the most damage when they hit our lives during an unexpected attack. 

Our enemy loves to watch us as we proceed on the path of life, he even skips along with us and shows himself to us on a daily basis and in some instances stays with us for an extended period of time so that we becomes comfortable with his presence.  It is at this comfortable time in our lives that he decides to leave this position and to carry on his mission elsewhere but even though he is out of our sight we are never out of his mind.  His thoughts of us are always dedicated with a plan of action that is against us even though our path seems to be all roses at the moment.  This action by him is all part of his mind games that he plays with us, yes he knows that he is short on time but he also realizes that the events that have been foretold have not come into play as of yet so in that sense he has ample time to execute his plan to a gullible world and with the reality of him knowing that this type of scenario is being accepted by billions of people around the globe he has the opportunity to continue his plans of rock throwing almost unabated.   

Our path of life is a long one and we have no idea of what is hiding just around the corner.  We cannot even tell you what is ahead of us even when we are on an open portion of the path and have clear skies all around.  Life is an adventure and all of have experienced bumps in the road at some point in time.  Our enemy loves to gain access to our lives and then create a rock that will do as much damage as possible when it strikes us.  However, the enemy knows that at first if he stands in front of us and shows his hand at his plan we will stand up and know what is going on but as time advances and we continue our journey he then can gauge how to act when we are going fulfilling our daily patterns. 

Our enemy likes to hide behind bends in the road and wait till the time is right to hurl these rocks towards us direction.  So, he bides his time until we approach the bend.  To us the approaching bend looks like another ordinary curve in the road in which we are preparing to deal with.  We turn our heads for a moment to make sure everything is ok to encounter the bend and as soon as our eyes move from the forward direction our enemy is ready to launch the rock.  He throws this rock and its projectory is straight, fast and has no obstacles in between him and the target.  He does not care that you are not looking for the object and he is relieved that his plan is being completed without any hitches and he formulates a huge smile of satisfaction on his face when the rock hits its target.

The rock that he has thrown is made to have a meaningful impact on our lives and it is designed to have a profound effect not only to us but for those around us as well.  As a kid growing up in the south snowy winters were very rare and deep snow levels were nowhere to be found.  So when it was time to drive out to Colorado to visit family for Christmas or New Years it was a grand time to go play in the deep snow.  We would have awesome snowball fights and build huge snow forts and perfect snowmen.  But when the snowball fights would occur it would not be too long until someone had a cheap shot opportunity and when this would occur it was executed perfectly.  So, when the snowball hit what was the first thing that the person who just got nailed thought about?  Right, quickly make another snowball and find the culprit.  Even though it was all in fun and jest the same concept play out when we get hit with a rock thrown at us by our enemy.

Remember the old phrase Kill two birds with one stone?  This phrase actually comes into play when our enemy decides to throw a stone our way.  See, when he accomplishes his mission and nails us with a stone our immediate reaction is to bend over and pick up the stone and throw it back at him.  However, there is one problem that we tend to forget about and that is that the stones that he throws at us have no effect on him they just pass right through him and begin their trek towards the person or group of people that are in close proximity.  What happens?  Well, they are hit with the stone that you just threw at them so they decide to retaliate in return and the problem escalates from there.  It does not matter what type of stone that is thrown in your direction our enemy is counting on you reacting in the normal human fashion to the situation and launching the stone or another stone that has been strategically placed close to you into the direction of where the stone was thrown at you.  You are being baited and the majority of us fall for it every time.

We must remember that Satan is our enemy and that he has no desire for us to have any peace within our lives.  Look at the world and all of the conflicts that are presently ongoing.  Then turn to history and read about all of the civil and military actions that have occurred over the millennia.  This is all part of his plan to create division within the people of the world and we are falling for it right and left.  Even if the battles are justified and rights and liberties are being threatened this is still an opportunity to create division amongst people and when we really dig deep into history we will see that he has laughed at us for the same amount of time because we have missed the concept of his existence within our world and pathways of life.  And when you put this type of activity into our fore thinking it really brings home the concept that man will act according to what he believes is right.

The path of life will always bring encounters with the enemy.  The path of life will always have rocks within our path that we have to endure from time to time.  But the rocks that we chose to create for our lives do not have to be an issue if we choose to not create them because of past issues.  Our enemy will always throw rocks at us and it is our responsibility to be on the lookout for when they are heading in our direction.  We also must know, understand and believe that we do have a protection system in place that helps us against these thrown rocks.  But for a number of reasons most of the world chooses to ignore this protection system and then curse the system for not working when the rocks hit their mark.  Our enemy works in socialist capacities on this front and does not care if you believe in the protection system or not he is going to throw rocks at you because he knows and understands your potential against his kingdom.  Our enemy will not be derelict in his duty towards you so why don’t you decide to restore the beliefs in our holy protection once again?

DLB