What's your January 2?

On January 3, 2009, my life changed. Profoundly.

Up until then I had been content to go it alone, to do things the way I wanted to do them, to disregard God and others, and to push forward.

Then God said: time's up. Time's up on the way you have lived your life up until now. Time is up on the way of the world. Of flirting with the things that are temporal. Time is up on you not relying on Me.

Let me give you a bit of background -- I became a Christian when I was eight years old, at a summer camp, during a fireside prayer call. I asked Christ into my heart, though I don't know that I fully understood what that meant, He became my Lord and Saviour.

I was pretty excited in those early days but, overtime, allowed myself to drift away. As I grew up, I hung on to hurts and bitternesses, labelled the entire church community as hypocritical, and viewed God through a limited lenses... a limited lenses, for a boundless God. Pretty bad.

As I grew from my teens into my twenties, I would make soft sounds about being a Christian... before I'd drink, smoke, screw around or do my own thing. If living our faith is a testament to Christ's work in us, I was doing a very dismal job, and proved to be a very bad witness.

Then, 2 years ago, I met my wife. She was kind, she was compassionate, she was beautiful. She was everything I could have ever wanted in a woman. In fact, she was who I had always dreamed of -- and God delivered her to me. Nobody else could have known just how perfect she was for me. But God did. And he brought her, like an angel, to my side.

I went back to church, I started to explore my faith again. But, I still lacked... something... I can't say what it was, exactly, but I knew deep down in my heart of hearts that I was not allowing God to work in me the way HE desired. That's the thing about us humans, we tend to dig in our heels and to taunt God with our continued unwillingness to submit.

Then came January 3 -- it wasn't a car accident or a tragedy as we would define it here on earth -- but it was a sustained attack on me that could only have come from the enemy. And it continues, today, albeit it is less than it was 3 weeks ago. This is thanks to prayer, to petition, to praise and to the strength of God.

How I long, in many ways, for January 2 -- when all was peaceful and serene. When I wasn't engaged in a battle with the enemy, depending on the strength of God (James 4:7-8, Psalm 91), the body of Christ (Romans 12:5) and the Armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), to get me through every day. Yet, at the same time, I wouldn't trade this for anything. Over the past three weeks, I have been blessed by prophetic word, by the comfort of the Holy Spirit, by the strength of God and by a reliance on Him that is something I never would have believed possible. I am seeing God in a new light and leaning on Him -- hard -- to battle through this.

It isn't easy -- nothing worthwhile ever is. But God is my guide. He has anointed me and I will continue to fight for the glory of His Kingdom.

Are you living in January 2? Are you living a life where God is knocking on your door but you are turning up the music, ignoring him, hoping he'll go away? I was doing that too -- and then he broke the door down.

I'm glad He did.