Permission First

My brother Mark, me (mini skirt and saddle shoes lol) and our mother
Noccalula Falls Park, 1970

Satan replied to the LORD, "Yes, but Job has a good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property"..."All right, you may test him," the LORD said to Satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." (Job 1:9-12)

In our leave-it-to-Beaver small-town of Fort Payne in the 1960s, my parents felt comfortable dropping me off at the dentist all by my adolescent self for a cleaning and checkup. The newly graduated oral surgeon, during that "regular checkup," discovered a slight swelling in the rough of my mouth and proceeded to cut it out and stitch me up. 

When Mama came to get me, she addressed the young doctor in a calm but notably firm voice. "Never again cut on my child ever without my permission first."

Spiritual warfare is a common subject of sermons, prayers, and discussions in the Christian circle. The Bible clearly teaches fear not, because Satan and his cohorts can't do one thing without God's permission first. If Jesus permits an attack, He has granted us the authority to make Satan flee and promised to work all things for good for those who love Him.

O Christian, are you battling the evil powers of darkness? Link arms with Jesus. Be strong in Him and in His mighty power. Put on God's full armor. Stand firm against that ol' trouble-making serpent's cunning strategies. For greater is God in you than the prince of the air in the world.