Oh no, not again! You feel it coming on; it’s gonna be a doozy. Your eyes dart about frantically searching the room. Then you see it! You make a gold medal-worthy sprint, hurdling obstacles in your path. Just as you reach for it . . . ah . . . Ah . . . AAAHHH CHOOO!!! You blow right through the tissue.
A quick glance at the box for which you risked life and limb reveals the reason: 1-Ply. 1-Ply?!?! Why does anyone bother making 1-Ply tissue? You can’t depend on it! Don’t they know you need at least two or three layers to be of any help?!?
I spent the better part of my Christian walk as a 1-Ply Christian. I’d sense a problem coming on, and instead of taking a moment to seek out the good stuff—the multiple layers of protection that God provides—I reached for what was familiar and convenient. That was the single-ply, flimsy line of defense that I alone could supply. As you might imagine, problems blew right through me.
What about you? When a problem arises, is your first response to handle it on your own, or do you reach for the best—do you reach for The God on whom you can always depend?
God has made available to everyone, multiple layers of defense to enable us to stand strong in the face of trials. First and foremost, salvation by grace through faith in His Son (John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8&9). We also have the gift of prayer; absolute truth—contained in His Word and revealed to us by His indwelling Holy Spirit—and opportunities. Opportunities to grow in faith and opportunities to choose righteousness.
God makes these available to us, but He never forces us to receive or make use of them. With each new trial, we have a choice: reach for that which offers the quickest defense—the single-ply box that contains our limited knowledge and experience—or exercise our faith and trust in Him by utilizing the multiple layers that He supplies. We can even combine them to add more strength.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might . . . Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
(Ephesians 6:10-17)
If you do choose to regularly take advantage of those extra layers, don’t be surprised to find your single ply feeling stronger. After all, you will have been infused with the truth of God’s Word, Jesus’ example, and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. But don’t let your guard down. Just because the package says “New and Improved”, on our own, we’re still 1-ply.
Fortunately, when we hold up God’s truth in the face of our problems and trust in His promises, the strength of our trials will quickly weaken.
So let us not allow a single day to go by that we don’t determine, even before getting out of bed, to refuse to depend on our single-ply, reach for the best, and stand strong in Christ.
