Did I just become Mr. Rogers?
A funny thing happened to me today. At least I thought it was funny and I laughed. So that’s a good sign. It was raining outside and I came in and hung up my raincoat. Right next to the coat, I put on my light Warriors sweat coat because it was more comfortable (Picture below). Then I ran upstairs to take off my sneakers and put on my slippers. I was just about to blog about what a nice beautiful day it was for me then it hit me. I wasn’t going to mention anything about a neighborhood and I don’t have a toy train running through my town home. However, I do have several puppets scattered throughout my home. Does this mean that I’m officially old now? Or have I just become Mr. Rogers? Upon further investigation Mr. Rogers never mentioned his wife on the show so he also seemed to be single on air. (He occasionally mentioned his wife in interviews outside of the show but never on the show.). As far as children on the show, I think those were his puppets. OK, I’ve shown my age. Mr. Rogers was on the air when I was child. The important thing here is…not that I’m old…which I’m getting up there at 57, but because I can laugh about it. I’m proud of my age actually. I’ve lived enough for three lifetimes. Plus I haven’t hit my Apex just yet, that is coming soon.
“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.”
The key phrase — “beauty for ashes” — conveys a powerful image of transformation and redemption: God taking the ruins of our lives (the “ashes”) and turning them into something beautiful.
Not in those exact words but that has been my prayer for the last year. Just coming across that phrase gives me hope that God will see me through this. And once I get through this, I will be a witness that anyone can get through anything even if it seems impossible at first.
Now my spirit right now is in such a dark contrast to where I was even 48 hours ago. I know some people don’t believe in spiritual attacks. There was an old comic named Flip Wilson in the 60’s-70’s whose catch phrase was “The Devil Made Me Do It.” Believe it or not, that was before my time but I’m a student of all media. So when I say I was under spiritual attack please don’t misread that as me blaming spiritual entities for my shortcomings. I take responsibility for mistakes and recently, I haven’t been making any of those types of mistakes. Still a dark spirit came upon me and just Bummed me out virtually the entire weekend. Now am I out of the woods? I’m not sure. But I think it was a test. I think I passed it, at least thus far. I felt God impress upon me that the whole week would be tough so I have to prepare for another 3 days just in case. Why does God allow this to happen? Instead of warning me it would be a tough week, couldn’t he just fix the problems? It says in the book of James:
James 1:2–4 (NIV):
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
So God is growing me during this time. He does allow spiritual forces to afflict us sometimes. Look at the book of Job where God allowed Satan to torment Job. I’m not equating myself with Job (because he was righteous and upright and I have not been until now). It happened again in the book of Daniel again with an assist from Chat GPT. (Chat GPT is an excellent tool for Bible Study I’m finding. “All Truth is God’s Truth.”)
Daniel 10:12–13. This is where the prophet Daniel is praying and fasting for understanding, and an angel (likely Gabriel) is sent with an answer — but the angel is delayed for 21 days because of spiritual resistance.
Here’s the key portion (from the New International Version):
Daniel 10:12–13 (NIV)
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.”
The King of Persia is representing the demonic Kingdom. In Ephesians 6 Paul references this spiritual battle as well:
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV):
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
This directly parallels Daniel 10: the “prince of Persia” represents one of those spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Paul affirms that the real battle is not merely human — it’s spiritual.
So some of what I’m going through is a product of my own sin/selfish choices but some of it is also a spiritual battle I’m engaged in fighting. The Enemy is trying to steal my Love, Peace and Joy. Why can’t God just wipe the demonic kingdom out once and for all? We won’t know those answers til we get to Heaven.
The uplifting part for me is that even though it’s been a tough week, I’m still filled with Peace and Joy and more importantly Hope. Did anything happen to change my mood like a raise, a hug from a loved one, a compliment, or a commendation? No, nothing happened to me circumstantially to oppress or deliver me. The only thing I could control was how I responded to these circumstances. I think I did pretty well, and I’ll continue to do pretty well. If you happened to have prayed for me this past week/month/year, Thank You. Now I need to find someone else to encourage who might be going through a similarly tough time. That’s where my Joy is at right now.
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