Unwelcome Intruders

Unwelcome Intruders

Women Suffering From Invaders

Read: 2 Kings 17:5-6; 2 Chronicles 24:23-24

I wasn’t prepared for this aspect of living among the cornfields: As farmers harvested the field behind our house, unwelcome intruders invaded our home. I found mouse droppings here and there, and even with mousetraps, I occasionally saw a mouse dart across a room. But the topper came when my husband and I sat watching television one night. Glancing over at the brick hearth beside the entertainment center, I saw that we had been joined by a mouse who also liked old movies.

The women in today’s Old Testament passages suffered from much more serious invasions. Each time the Hebrew people chose idols over God or chose a sinful lifestyle over obedience to his commands, God disciplined them by allowing their enemies to invade their land. An enemy invasion disrupted the women’s lives as their city came under siege or was plundered. Their hearts broke when the oppressors carried them or their loved ones away as captives. God allowed each conquering nation to control his people until their hearts returned to him and they once again acknowledged his control over their lives.

We are all subject to enemy invasions on the battleground of our minds. If we concentrate only on avoiding sinful behavior to the neglect of our thought life, we leave ourselves open to Satan’s intrusion. If we don’t notice when Satan subtly introduces thoughts and daydreams into our minds, he can gradually begin to control our attitudes and behavior. What we put into our minds also affects our thought life. Are we allowing unwholesome movies, television shows, or reading material to influence how we think? Or are we concentrating on worthwhile things and taking in God’s Word each day? With God’s help, we can learn to focus our minds in a way that locks out unwelcome intruders.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8