We Are Sharp Swords Made To Smite Unclean Forces
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ (Ephesians 2:10)
The late Soviet dissident Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn provided a quote should be something we all consider: “It makes me happier and most secure to think that I do not have to plan and manage everything for myself, that I am only a sword made sharp to smite the unclean forces. Grant, oh Lord, that I may not break as I strike! Let me not fall from Thy hand!” Although not known to be a fervent Christian, his quote is almost a mini-sermon for those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior.
Mr. Solzhenitsyn’s first part is acknowledging the Joy we should have in knowing that it is all God’s plan; regardless of our situation or circumstance, it is God in control. Like the Apostle Paul, Solzhenitsyn was a prisoner who stood upon truth. While many may fall into the trap of ‘woe is me’, being locked up in a cell despite being innocent of wrongdoing, the only crime one of speaking the truth, Solzhenitsyn realized he, more specifically his writings, was a weapon that could be used to take down the Soviet Union.
He understood that it was not his strength or wisdom but God’s wisdom and His power behind that wisdom that allowed Alexandr’s words to be powerful. The suffering to advance the cause of Christ and of freedom was made joyful as he believed God would be glorified in the end result. The second part asked God for strength; not to allow Solzhenitsyn to become bitter or pitiful during his captivity and persecution. He then asked God to hold him and bolster him, not to drop him or forget about him during his struggles.
It is remarkably similar to Paul’s expressions in Philippians 1 where he expresses the joy of being imprisoned as he is able to witness to his captors, and his hope that he would remain unashamed of the Gospel and that God’s hand would remain upon him. Paul understood that he was, in his time, God’s weapon of choice to bring the Gospel to the Roman Empire and to the Gentile world. Paul himself would not be the one to cause the fall of the Roman Empire and its polytheistic beliefs, but through him the Gospel would crack the shell that later would allow it to flourish along the roads the Romans built.
Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Gulag Archipelago’ did not directly cause the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it called out the brutality and godlessness of the Soviet/communist system of governance and by the 1980s, along with the pressures of the Western world on the outside, allowed the Soviet Union to crack open from the pressure of freedom from the inside.
We may not ever become political prisoners who will be so tested as the Apostle Paul or Mr. Solzhenitsyn, but Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are all created and prepared to do the work Jesus has commanded us to do. We are to perform the Great Commission, stand for Truth, and obey our Lord’s commandments. We should never accept a ‘plea deal’ to turn away from that which Jesus requires from us to do. The best thing is it is not out of our own strength or wisdom to do what the Lord has prepared us to do, but He also gives us that strength and ability! Whatever we face, Jesus is with us and will provide us with what we need to persevere!
