Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Theology Is Our War Plan

I heard the phrase again this weekend, "theology is our war plan".  It resonated deep inside of me.  I believe this to the core of my being.  My fear is that in the culture we live in and even in our church culture we have become so celebrity focused that we go clamoring after the next book, bible study, and or blog that has the most popular name attached to it and leave behind the Name that is above every name.  We possibly are learning a lot about God through someone else's lens or life experience but we have failed to know God for ourselves.  I talk to women all the time that spend time reading books, blogs, and listening to pod casts and somehow equate that with the study of God's word and knowing Him.  It's not...  I too read blogs, books, and listen to podcasts but they are tools.  Nothing can substitute sitting long and often at His word learning to feast through the study of Him written on the pages of holy writ.

Theology is just that, the study of Him.  The knowing Him.  Practical theology is then knowing Him and acting like you know Him in the daily routine of life.  That's where theology being our war plan comes into play...the daily stuff like marriage and parenting, like work and church, like interacting with your neighbors and those crazy shoppers out there!  We need a war plan, a strategic and intentional plan to wade through our lives.

There has been one paragraph written in a book by Elyse Fitzpatrick titled When Life and Beliefs Collide, that was so pressed into my life upon reading it, I have it printed out and read it about once a month and I think I have included it in just about every bible study I've done with women in the past five years.  It resonates deep inside of me as well because it describes what it means to have theology as our war plan.

"The great women theologians I have come across cultivated the habit of using their theology in the here and now.  What set these women apart--kept them from sinking when everything else was going down and strengthened them to lend a hand to others--was their unblinking focus on God.  They were serous about knowing him and studied the scriptures with that intention.  They nurtured their faith on the truth of God's character so that, instead of starting over from scratch in each new situation, wondering if God's goodness had expired or if he had somehow lost control, these women fixed their eyes on him and actually put their weight down on the truth.  No matter what the challenge or the adversity, their ironclad conviction was that he is always good, is always on his throne, is always working, always knows what he is doing, and that his love for them never stops.  They were not passive with their knowledge but consciously took it up and confronted life with it. Their hearts were strong because they were sure of God.  It made a difference in their running, and what is more, because their eyes were fixed on Jesus, they were better wives, mothers, daughters, and friends."

What is your war plan?
Our husbands, children, neighbors, and world need women of theology.
Challenge: Know God and live like you know Him.

Always Learning,
Kim
Psalm 119:90-91


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