LOOKING SQUARELY AT OUR “ENEMIES”
(Wednesday, July 24)
“For out of every affliction You have delivered me, and my eye has looked upon my enemies.” (яко от всякия печали избавил мя еси, и на враги моя воззре око мое. / Ὅτι ἐκ πάσης θλίψεως ἐῤῥύσω με, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου ἐπεῖδεν ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου.) Ps 53/54: 7
It’s hard to get to the point that we can “look upon” our true “enemies,” which are those or that which proved to be bad for us, in the past. We tend to waste a lot of time on fear, denial, and/or on rationalization, justification, avoidance, people-pleasing, etc., (all of which obscure our “eye” or vision), before we can look squarely at our “enemies,” with the non-negotiable look that recognizes them as such. The thing that enables us to do so, I’m thinking today, as I’m reading this Psalm-verse, is faith in a God Who has faith in me, as He has backed me up and supported me, in what was good for me, by delivering me “out of every affliction” or what was bad for me, in the past. I’m O.K. today, even if I have my set of issues and problems with this or that. I know, as I get in touch with God’s presence to me, God’s undying call to me, to follow Him on the cross-carrying journey, that He believes that I can do it. “For out of every affliction You have delivered me.” In more practical terms, the thing that helps me to “look upon” my “enemies” is daily journaling about the good and the bad of the past day, noting with gratitude where the good came from and how, where/how the bad occurred, and where/how I find the hope to do better, moving forward. For example, I might note “idleness & despondency,” often connected to scrolling down my feed on social media platforms at inappropriate times. This election year, I need repeatedly to note the true enemies in this picture, namely, idleness & despondency, lest I slip into fear-based thinking, about all those annoying people who voice opinions and sentiments distasteful to me. My scrolling needs to stop, so I can be a bit more useful to myself and others.
Let me re-attach myself to God today, and de-tach myself from my enemies, even as I take an honest “look” at them, in faith. I need not be confused, nor to be in denial or to rationalize false friendships or addictions to people or things, as I re-embrace my vocation, my call that comes from God alone, to follow Him, according to my responsibilities in the here and now. “For out of every affliction You have delivered me, and my eye has looked upon my enemies.”
