An enemy of my enemy is a friend

"You have enemies? Good, that means you stood up for something, sometime in your life." ~Winston Churchill

"The supreme art of war is to subdue your enemy without fighting."~ Sun Tzu

"In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." ~ Martin Luther King JR

I read over all of these quotes recently and felt the power in the words. I never thought in my wildest dreams that there would be feelings inside me in ministry where I felt like I was trying to love an enemy. Each human being before they know Jesus and He draws them to Himself, are by nature enemies of the Cross. So when we reach out as the church into the lost and broken world we are reaching out to our enemies and presenting them with the good news of Salvation. So I knew that ministry would be a big part reaching the enemy for Jesus and loving the enemy for the sake of God. But I never thought that I would feel like those I am called to experience the "one anothers" with would feel like an enemy. Now, I am not saying it is their fault they feel like an enemy. I know the feelings inside me have come as a part of how I have acted and sinned in my still broken nature. And I know these people are not trying to act like enemies of mine (or at least I pray they are not). But Satan has filled my broken heart with feelings of depression and sadness and thoughts that they feel like an enemy. Whether it is the silence, the strong push back for things I stood for, or even the art of war, I hate the feelings of enemies.

But good has come from these feelings. They have driven me to my knees in prayer. I have found that these feelings go away when I pray for the feelings and people. I have been reminded that it is not for these people I do what I do. I have felt the conviction of the Spirit and the Words of Scripture saturate me with the truth it is the glory of God alone that matters. I have been reminded the more I read the Bible that "God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him", not satisfaction in these feelings or people. God has show me I need to be zealous for Him and Him alone. God as reminded me now, a year in, that I minster for Him alone. And when He gets the glory it impact others whether they feel like an enemy or a friend.