Show Me the Bad Guys!
so I can take off their heads
It’d be advantageous if we could see the bad guys each day. You know, some villains dressed in black, speaking threats, and waving a sword in our general direction. Then I’d know, “Aha! There’s the villain!” And I’d get out my sword or gun or jump on his head and POOF! He’d go up in a cloud of smoke. Level complete. Maybe I’d win 10 gold coins for doing it.
Sigh.
Alas, real life is not like a video game. There are no bad guys, only people Jesus died for and who I’m supposed to love just as much as I love myself. But I’m finding that difficult because those people aren’t minding me as much as I’m minding them, and when they don’t do that, they start to look an awful lot like bad guys.
Not only that, but my energy levels aren’t filling up as quickly as they used to when I was twenty. Level 41 presents additional challenges, including pets and extracurricular activities, and houses that exhibit discouraging signs of wear and tear. The little people living here have become more clever, and I think I’m getting more dumber by the second.
To put this in context, it’s summer. The three kids are home, and I’ve decided to paint their bedrooms, or rather, teach them to paint their bedrooms. This means things are not in their place, nor have they been for weeks. If we go out, we have a break from the mess, but then nothing gets done. If we stay home, we may get a little done, but then attitudes, bickering, and dissatisfaction sets in like a plague. Ataxophobia shortly follows.
In addition to this, it’s flea season, and we’ve had to bug bomb the house multiple times. We’ve sprayed the backyard, bathed our cat, given him flea pills, a collar, and drops; we’ve put flea drops on our rabbits and installed a scarecrow sprinkler to discourage wildlife in the backyard. The other day, while waiting for Home Depot’s paint department to mix my trim paint, I browsed the pest aisle and purchased sixty bucks’ worth of anti-pest and critter products.
In this case, I know who the bad guys are. They are the fleas! And those fleas are making us short-tempered with our teammates, namely, the children.
I suppose if life can’t be like a video game, it’d be advantageous if we had spiritual reality goggles to put on throughout the day. You know, goggles that showed us how things looked to God so that we could aim our energies in the right direction.
Aha! I see a character unlock if I just keep my mouth shut in this situation.
Oh, I see my children’s responsibility growing through this mess. I shall keep on keeping on.
Oh, an intervention door! That means I need to send everyone to their room for twenty minutes.
To see life like this seems synonymous with killing the bad guys. To sense God’s leading in any given situation and to follow His leading through faith in Christ, means we are vanquishing the enemy from another level in our lives.
Pursue the good; reject the bad. Heavenly coins unlocked; bad guys’ heads roll. Hurrah!
In this, the Christ-life accomplishes two things at once. By saying yes to what God calls us to do, we are saying no to evil. By being with Jesus in our stresses, we are casting out more and more of the fleshly life, the devil, and the world’s deceptions. To say yes to God is to bash the devil on the head. Hurrah!
Level 41 is half complete. Level 42 approaching. Time to get back to painting.
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I especially appreciated your 3 bullet points on the much deeper things that God is doing in both you and Phil and also your children as you endure fleas, painting, and the wear and tear not only in your home, but also in your body. Level 42 will be glorious!
This is so good! With God's help you are doing a great job!Praying for you!