V: Vulnerable

I'm not a huge fan of showing my vulnerable side. So I was pretty happy when I seemed to get the sense from my pastor's sermon on Sunday that we were to be armed by the Spirit so that we wouldn't be vulnerable to his attacks. As the day went on, I felt a nudging by the Spirit. Perhaps you know the kind, where he lets know you've been thinking or looking at something in the wrong way. I was drawn back to a verse from our women's Bible study earlier in the week. We were at the place where Jesus was sending the disciples out on their first solo mission. According to Matthew's account, he tells them that he is sending them out as sheep among the wolves and that they are to wise as serpents and innocent as doves (see Matthew 10:5ff, especially verse 16).

What I saw in this is that being vulnerable is both and. We are to be very savvy when it comes to the attacks of the enemy. We need to be dressed fully in the protection of the Lord (see Ephesians 6:13-17). We need to take our thoughts captive or be a captive. We need to be ready to "beat feet" if need be so that we can get away.

On the other hand we are to be innocent as doves. That just seems to speak of our implicit vulnerability. We need to stay vulnerable to our brothers and sisters and to God. We need to be careful to not get so cocky in our armor that we lose touch with one another. We really do need each other. We are admonished by the writer of Hebrews that we are not to neglect meeting together and encouraging one another (Hebrews 10:25). One of the impetuses for the Wesleyan movement was John Wesley's awareness of our need for accountability.

We also need to stay vulnerable with God. That sounds so obvious, but if we were to take the time to honestly examine this area we might see how we have tended to shut God out of certain decisions, how we have attempted to maneuver through situations in our own strength, or how we have determined not to bother God with something that we deem trivial.

Two incidents immediately jump to mind as I reflect on how we struggle with the trivial, or small. Way back when I was in seminary for the first time, a classmate came to chapel and a begged us to join him in a specific prayer request. His wife had delivered their son prematurely. Things were improving for Matthew, but Jim asked us to pray that God would help Matthew drink one ounce and keep it down. The request revolutionized my prayer life. Never again would I see anything as too small for God. Fast forward to a current situation. The grown daughter of dear friends is battling with a constriction of her esophagus. She has been undergoing endoscopy procedures to stretch her esophagus. As I was praying for her I remembered little Matthew. God cared about his ability to drink one ounce--which he did, by the way! God, the God who created the universe also created microbes too small for the human eye to see unassisted. He cares about millimeters. Nothing is too small for him. Stay open and pliable, vulnerable to Him.

So are you vulnerable? I hope the answer is no and yes. I pray that you are increasing in awareness and discipline to protect yourself from the wiles of the evil one. I also pray that you keep a vulnerable, innocent and open, heart before God and your brothers and sisters in the Lord. It is when you are both that you find that you are fruitful and productive in the Lord (2 Peter 1:3-8).