Like a Warrior

God gives me up to the ungodly and casts me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target; his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior.
Job 16:11-14
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Like a Warrior
This picture of God running rampant over Job is a hard one to envision.  We know God as a loving and caring God, who looks after all our needs.  Yet here Job, in his frustration paints a picture of a vengeful and maleficent being. And though Job unfairly characterizes God in this way, he is at some level correct.  God does indeed overwhelm us. He seizes the old Adam in us through His saving water of Holy Baptism and drowns him, violently, day after day.  He rushes in like a warrior to break down our defenses which would separate us from His love.  He penetrates our interior world and wreaks havoc upon our sinful lives which would be content to wallow in the filth of our sin.  And in doing so God equips us to battle the world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh, as St. Paul tells us, with the “whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11).  God fought the ultimate battle for us winning our salvation on the cross and continues to destroy the will of the devil by bestowing upon us His gifts of Word and Sacraments. In Christ we have the victory. In Christ we are secured.