In 1 Corinthians 1:25-29 we read about the battle plan that God has laid out for the conquering of all the powers that do not bow to his rightful Lordship. Surely a quick look around us in our respective locations will convince us that the forces massed against the rule of Christ as King of Kings are formidable, and we would expect in our human understanding to find an impressive list of the troops and tactics that the our Captain plans to use in the battle ahead. At our first perusal we are shocked to find that all of the forces listed are not what we would call forces at all, but are rather made up of the lowest of the low. These battalions, listed as the conquering force, are hardly what the average captain would name as his slaves, much less depend on to win the most decisive battles of human history! We could quickly assume that given the power of the enemy and the lack of all that we deem essential on the part of the Captain’s forces, the outcome of the battle is clear and the prospects for victory bleak indeed. But as we read the words of our Captain, there seems to be no doubt as to the eventual end of the war in a resounding victory for the forces loyal to the King, and we are inspired by the tone of his words to look with hope to the battle.
As we take a closer, more contemplative look, we find that the ranks of this army are filled with men and women like ourselves, and this knowledge sparks faith and courage within us. Maybe there is still a place in the ranks of the renowned for us, weak and unknown as we are. Would not most of the trampled down, forgotten masses love to join in such a venture, the surprising conquest of the mighty things through an acknowledgedly weak force? And yet as we read further we come to verse 29 which gives in clear, concise words the purpose for this seemingly weak force being amassed to fight with the powers that be; ‘That no flesh should glory in his presence’. Ah, yes, we see even in our recognition of our lowly estate a desire to rise to fame, even if it be with humble comrades such as we see listed here. Even within our desire to support the king we find the seeds of the rebellion that we seek to destroy. We observe that the Captain is not choosing this seemingly motley crowd because he has no better options, for surely the powers of the world are at his control, nor is he picking them purely out of compassion for the forgotten, though he is nothing if he is not compassion. He chooses with a plan that we do not know and a wisdom that we do not understand, and his aim is that when the last battle has been won, quelling forever the rebellion of mankind against their Creator not a single glory-usurping atom would remain to steal the least ray of worship from its rightful recipient, the Creator, Sustainer, and Master of the universe!
I have found the various feelings and emotions of my heart over the last weeks expressed in one aspect or another of these verses and the thoughts that they bring up before our mind’s eye. My desire is that as we look at the conflicts that we are engaged in, we would not on the one hand hide from the fact of our weakness nor on the other be overcome with despondency because of it; Rather that we would see God’s jealousy for his glory, take hope in the final victory and the promised infilling for need, and humbly take our places in the war! Hopefully this heart will come through as we share a bit about the battles and victories of the last weeks.
The Foolish, Weak and Seemingly Nonexistent Things
Several times in the last weeks I have been faced with the reality of our weakness in the face of such incredible odds, and I have been struck by the daunting nature of approaching such a task with such limited resources in size and strength, both spiritually and physically. Christy and I spent several days in a bush village with a youth team from America giving them a taste of village life, and ministering alongside our brothers there. During those few days and the ministry that they involved, we got our 4WD Land Rover stuck not less than three times. The bush roads here are incredibly rough and are very muddy this time of year and they proved to be too much for our aging but faithful Rover. One of the times was at midnight when returning from a crusade, and another time the tractor that was to help us out got stuck on the way in, requiring the services of yet another hard-to-find tractor! In these and a dozen other vehicle and tire problems in the past weeks, I have felt our ‘littleness’ when compared to the difficult task of ministry in a remote area.
On the spiritual side, the difficulties of the work and problems that we encounter keep me always aware of my own inadequacies in the face of this spiritual war. Sometimes I wonder why I am the one who is here, mentally citing others who I feel would be more competent. At times when I sit with our brothers in the village discussing strategy for ministry, I am overwhelmed at how incredibly small we are when compared with the people who we seek to reach. In the above and many other circumstances we are reminded of just how weak and insignificant we are when seen against the job of breaking the centuries-old powers of darkness that rule this tribe.
The Wise, Mighty, and Existing Powers
We have also had some opportunities recently to recognize the size and power of the foe that we stand against in this battle for the souls of Konkomba men and women. We were asked the other day to take a man to the hospital who had been bitten by a snake, a common occurrence during farming season. We drove to the nearby village and to our shock met the whole family angrily shouting and fighting over whether or not the man should go to the hospital! A soothsayer had been called in and had implicated a woman in the village as having ‘thrown’ a curse on the man. In the end, because of the belief that witchcraft was the cause, they refused to send the man for treatment, which resulted in his death the next day while the accused worked feverishly to ‘save’ him through juju. I drove home with such a feeling of helplessness in the face of such darkness and spiritual oppression, as the devil claimed yet another soul.
We also faced these realities during the recent outreach with the team from the US. Through the numberless difficulties that we encountered trying to hold a crusade in a village, the influence of the enemy and his power to ‘wear out the saints’ was manifestly clear. We were attacking an enemy position and he did everything possible to turn us back. These windows into the spiritual battle that is going on leave no doubt about the immensity or might of the forces we are against. The enemy has the wisdom gained from centuries of battles, the might of having masses of supporters in this tribe, and all the power of hell and its demons behind him.
Christ Glorified and Victorious!!
God forbid that we should stop here, for the story does not stop here! Christ is and will be victorious! In the same weeks that are described above, we have also had striking glimpses of Christ’s progressive and eventual victory over the enemy among the Konkombas. The crusade was finally carried out in the village of Nalingmado and that labor has already begun to yield fruit to God’s glory. During follow-up over the weeks since the meeting there, several have chosen to yield to the call of Christ and the seeds of a church are now meeting there every Friday, where before the darkness was unbroken! We have also had the joy of watching Christ continue to be formed in the believers here and with the eye of faith we can see the day when the beauty of Christ’s character will be reflected from many who have lived their whole life in service to the devil, but now have met the Savior! We have seen the forerunners of what we desire to be a multitude of Konkombas, signifying with their lives the future victory of Christ, and there is victory in the air!
What is the connection between all of the weakness described in the above paragraphs and the victories of the lines just written? Why does the story not end with the dismal view we just surveyed? The reason that it does not is hidden in the fact that it is GOD who has chosen these seemingly weak and ineffective things to do his work. He does not send these inadequate vessels out to stand alone in their weakness against the masses of the enemy, rather he outfits them with his fullness so that they can and will conquer, but when they succeed, they and all that watch will know that it is because the Lord fights for them! God not only desires and deserves glory in the outcome of the conflict, it is his rightful due to receive glory throughout its entire accomplishment!
We know that we cannot give an adequate description of the task in this short space, nor do we claim to understand the depths or to have felt the worst onslaughts of our opponent. We also know that the victory of our Captain will be more glorious and far-reaching than we could ever imagine, much less put into words! We only share from what we have seen, recognizing how limited our view is in scope and depth. Maybe it can draw your heart as we are praying and trusting it will ours, to a fuller emptying of ourselves, knowing that of ourselves we can do nothing, and to a greater trusting in our great Commander who alone knows the battle and can provide all that we need, even as he moves ever closer to a final, sure, and decisive victory! These are the lessons we are working on right now and we thank you for walking through them with us both through this article and through the avenue of your continued prayers for us and for Christ’s victory here.
Desiring our emptiness and His infilling,
Daniel & Christy Kenaston
