There are times when a real struggle happens between my desire to submit to the authority of Christ and my desire to assert my own will.  I want to love God, but at times I resent God for being who He is because if He is God then I can’t be.  And I vacillate between thanking God for being the Lord of life and love and all of that, and defying God and doing things my way for a while.  By the time I’ve gone through that battle long enough, and allowed the demon of self-will to run rampant for a while, I have accomplished all of the damage that God wanted to save me from.  I encounter the thief in the night because I chose to live in darkness for a while.  At that point I have to say, “I am so sorry that when You told me to walk in faith, to be a daughter of the day, to keep awake and sober so as to avoid the destruction, I refused to do it.

I’m sorry that I did not believe that you indeed did not destine us for wrath, but for salvation if we will live with Christ.  And I’m sorry that I did not allow Your authority to liberate me from my demons”.  And suddenly I understand why God gives the commands He gives; I know why He says the things He says; and I know that freedom comes from trusting in the authority of Christ.  And I wish that I didn’t have to know that in order to obey it.

What forms do your demons take?  How is the authority of Christ bringing freedom to you?  Because Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians to encourage one another and build one another up, I urge you to rouse from your sleep and bring your demons into the light so that God can free you from unnecessary wrath and destruction as well.  I urge you with Paul to “not sleep, as others do, but keep awake and sober,” for we are all sons of the light and daughters of the day if we choose it.  And demons and thieves don’t survive well in the light.