“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).

My husband and I are dealing with internet insecurity issues right now. Our computers have been hacked, and we have been told that hackers are trying to access our bank accounts. We are feeling hunted, as if every time we turn on our computers we are at risk that our identity or resources will be stolen. It is not a good feeling. We are trying to create an impenetrable firewall to keep them out so that we can be secure.

I imagine I am feeling on a small degree how people must feel who live in countries where war is being fought—like Ukraine, for example. Where can they turn, where can they go, to be safe from the enemy? David spoke of this: “Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words, for I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it. Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets” (Psalm 55:9-11).

 And in a different manner, how someone who has cancer or other invasive disease may feel—as if out of control from the advance of a deadly virus or bacteria or tumor. Again, the Psalmist writes, “My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body” (Psalm 38:7).

While not everyone deals with these issues, we are all dealing with an enemy that is constantly on the prowl looking for every weakness to invade and try to overtake us. We are advised to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

What is even worse about this enemy is that he is so deceitful. That is why the command to be alert and of sober mind, because otherwise we might not realize he is there. Like that internet hacker, lurking in the background–you think all is well, until it is too late. The money is gone, the screen is dead, the operating system does not work anymore.

Three things we know for sure:

1. We are not alone. “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9).
2. God already has a plan. We see this so clearly in the narrative describing the Exodus. As far back as Genesis, God tells Abraham: “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there” (Genesis 15:13). Then in Exodus we learn: “Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come” (Exodus 12:40-42). As we read in last Chaplain’s Corner, God knows the beginning and the end of all our problems, and he has a plan to use them for his purposes and glory. And why? As he says in Exodus 7:5 “And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”
3. And finally, we know for sure that no matter what the enemy is up to, our God is stronger. God is building his church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. A mighty fortress is our God! “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:2).

The Bible is referring to you and me in these passages; about all who believe. No matter what those hackers try to do to me, they cannot touch my soul and my promise of eternal life. The same is true for you. Whatever you are going through, God wins and therefore, so do you. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29).

In Christ,

Judy