Shaking Off The Dust; Because It Is Not Our Battle

The story, in Luke 10, is so eye-opening for me. There are so many aspects of it.

Jesus sends out his disciples, TWO by TWO. No one had to go alone.
The harvest is plentiful. Laborers are few.
He sent them as lambs among the wolves.
He said, “Don’t take a bunch of stuff with you.”
When you go among people – see if your peace rests there. If there is peace, stay.
Accept what they give you, don’t be afraid to take payment for your work.
Don’t keep moving around.
Do all kinds of good for the people there. Minister to their needs.

BUT then! If you are not met with peace, you must:

Go to the streets and shake the dust of that town off your feet.

Notice it didn’t say… worry about them.
Go back and try again.
Plead with them.
Get into a debate with them.
Go to a judge with them.
Have a wrestling match.

Whatever you do, be sure you win.

NO. It said wipe the dust off your feet.

Do you know that was actually a thing? There was a practice in those days, ‘Shaking the dust off their feet’. It was to publicly show their separation from the people they were leaving. People did it to show separation of Jew and Gentile or a Jesus-following Jew to someone who rejected the message of Jesus. In a sense, it was publicly saying that ‘I tried, and you rejected it. I am no longer responsible.’

Friend, sometimes we have to do the same. Rather than fight till the death, rather than fight till we win, we have to simply ‘shake the dust off our feet.’

WHY?!

Because the battle is not ours. It.is.God’s. When we see it as God’s battle, we know He will still be fighting it, and we no longer must prove ourselves. God will prove Himself. When we realize this division is not our battle, we don’t have to take it personally. We can lay our hurt and rejected feelings down.

Jesus says:

Whoever listens to you, listens to me: whoever rejects you, rejects me. Whoever rejects me, rejects my Father.

Friend, when there is division in your life, step back. Ask yourself, is this a battle between me and them? Or is this a satan vs. God thing? Try it.

Ask yourself, is it really me that they are rejecting? Is it really me that they are not listening to? Or is this a satan vs. God thing?

I’m going to guess, a lot of the times, when we see division, it is because of a satan vs. God battle.

When we view it like it really is… satan vs. God…then we can lay our hurt feelings down and find the peace Jesus offers us, right in the middle of division.

{Let me be sure to add here, I am NOT saying that, when there is a division, one of us is on God’s side and one on satan’s. Sometimes it may be the case, but that’s not what I mean. I mean that the battle is between good and evil.

My hubby and I might be on the same team, same path, but the forces of satan are trying to distract us and pull us apart. Little things like a worry from the past, an unforgiveness trying to creep back in, a selfish thought here or there… it’s a satan vs. God thing. Honestly, sometimes, the battle/division is inside my own head. A satan vs. God fight.}

Satan is ALWAYS trying to split marriages apart. Satan is ALWAYS trying to get inside our brain and worry, fret, compare, have vain imaginations, lean into anxiety, go deeper into depression… Satan is always ready to pick a fight. He’s always ready to convince us to start a fight. Even if we never say the words out loud, he wants division to be so strong in our head.