Firewall

I am not computer savvy. Not at all actually. I mean, if someone shows me how to so something I can, but I have a very limited arsenal of things I know how to do when it comes to computers. I can create documents, but at two in the morning when they disappear into the abyss, my only option is to rewrite them before they are due because I have no clue how to find them. That said, it is computer thoughts that keep me awake at 4 in the morning. Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, Megan Parfitt is about to get techy.

When I was a junior in college I got a new computer. I was so excited. It was sleek and beautiful. Like I said, I don't know much about computers but it was pretty and it worked better than my other one so WIN! It had window's 7 and it was AWESOME!

Shortly after I got it, I started getting these messages on it that said "WARNING: Your computer is not protected." I ignored them. What could computer's possibly need to be protected from?

Then I got a virus. All these things started popping up that I DID NOT download. My computer was possessed.

So I took it to the campus Tech Help Desk. They are wonderful techy's there and they fixed my computer up. They installed a firewall... to protect it from fire... or something... =P

So everything was fine and dandy until I got another message on my computer. That firewall was keeping me from doing something I wanted to do.
There were two options at the bottom of the screen.
1) abandon the task(recommended) 
2) disable the firewall

"I don't really NEED a firewall," I thought to myself. "And besides, I will just turn it off for now and then when I am done I will turn it back on..."

This went on for a little while, and before long, it was just easier to leave the fire wall off. The warning signs came back, but I ignored them.

So in the middle of the night, I am hyped up on coffee and finishing a paper that is due in three hours soon and suddenly my computer is overrun with messages. They look a little different than the last ones, but all these warnings keep popping up and I can't make them stop. It's funny though, these weren't actual warnings. These were another virus disguised as helpful messages, and by clicking on them I downloaded a virus myself... MUCH worse than the last one. I lost my saved work, my computer was completely incapacitated and I still had a paper due.

Here's where I am going with this. Ephesians 6 talks about the armor of God, and that is an amazing analogy of how and why we need to clothe ourselves in Christ, but sometimes I think that it is hard for us to see that practically. We think like our fight is against flesh and blood, and even though Ephesians 6:12 tells us explicitly that our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood, our human minds struggle to grasp that concept. I sometimes catch myself thinking "I don't need this shield, I have no enemies attacking me right now. No one is coming at me with fiery darts that need to be quenched, I will just put down my shield (or my firewall) for a while.

Oh what a wretch I am that I don't take God at his word and use the tools He has given me! Just like I failed to use the firewall that people smarter than I said was important, I sometimes fail to put up my shield, or any other part of my armor for that matter, because it might keep me from doing something I want to do. It is too heavy or too cumbersome. I don't even really know what my reasons are at this point but I know that when I lay down my shield, when I disable my firewall, the invisible things creep in disguised as something innocent and attack me in the very spots I am most vulnerable.

1 Peter 5:8 says "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Roaring lions are not very effective hunters. In fact, male lions don't hunt at all. Satan is walking around roaring, distracting us like the faux warning signs distracted me, so that he can sneak something else in to pounce.

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. It's not the obvious stuff we fight with. For me right now it is the distractions of packing, saying goodbye, getting things done. I am so "busy" preparing to do what I believe God is telling me to do that I neglect to "put on Christ". I put down my firewall because I have things to do.

The beauty of it all is that God's grace and mercy are sufficient. He gives us the forgiveness and redemption we don't deserve, and He spares me from the wrath and curse I do deserve. Oh what a mighty amazing God we serve that He forgives us even when we fail to listen to His wise counsel and after repentance, He restores our firewall and our protection.