Can We Love Our Enemies?

by Doug Cook

Many times, in our fellowship I led in Houston, we would learn things through the scriptures we were studying that the Holy Spirit was trying to educate us about.  Then, in the week following those lessons, at least one of us or several of us would experience the very thing that we discussed the weekend before.  It was like the Lord would teach us something and then give us the opportunity to put into practical application the very thing we were supposed to have gleaned from the lesson.  This happened way too often to be just coincidence.  It was one of the ways the Lord was helping us grow in our faith.

One of my previous communications, titled “Our Own Works,” contained some scripture out of Matthew 5 and Luke 6 about loving our enemies, “blessing them that curse you”, “turning the other cheek”, and “of Him that takes away thy goods ask them not again.”  Well… guess what?  The Lord graciously gave me the opportunity to put into practice the exact thing I was teaching.  Allow me to share what happened.

When I am relaxed around the house, or working on something, I usually always wear pocket t-shirts.  I’ve dressed like this for years.  So, I have many of these on hand to keep from having to wash clothes more than every couple of weeks.  After first arriving on our new land in TN, Susan did the wash and I noticed the next day there were a lot of empty hangers, but I didn’t think much of it.  But within a week, I ran out of t-shits and had to ask Susan to do the wash.  Then we both began to question what happened to all the t-shirts.  Neither one of us could figure out what happened.  She had thrown one away that had a hole in it and I had thrown one away that was completely worn out, but it did not explain the mystery of many empty hangers.

The mystery was really bothering Susan so she was pondering it for a couple of days.  Then it came to her remembrance in the middle of the night.  We were coming home from the store a few weeks back and we passed a guy on a 4-wheeler traveling the opposite direction a short distance from our home.  He had some shirts on the front of his 4-wheeler and Susan made the comment “I wonder where he’s going with his laundry, and look Doug, he dresses just like you do.” I was driving and watching the road so I really didn’t see him, nor did I comment on her observation at the time.  Unbeknownst to us, he had just been on our property rummaging through our stuff and helped himself to some of my t-shirts.  He evidently lives close by because we have since seen him on the same faded yellow 4-wheeler and sometimes even wearing one of my shirts.

The point is I was faced with a quandary.  Not only was I the one that did the teaching on loving our enemies (which the Lord instantly brought back to my attention), but I had also been working with a neighbor and brother in Christ who had just had an old truck stolen off his property a few months back.  It caused him to really struggle with his faith and I have been trying to help him trust in the Lord for the outcome.  He knew who the thief was two days after it happened and was trying to solve the issue legally on his own.  Once he finally began the process of leaving it in the Lords hands, the Lord revealed to him where the stolen truck was and he was able to recover it.  So… now I’m given the opportunity to test my faith.  I knew this other brother would be closely watching me like a hawk to see how I handled this situation.

It’s amazing, even when we have all the biblical knowledge on a subject and know what to do, how much of an internal struggle it is to do the right thing the Lords way, as I experienced myself.  But it all comes down to what I have always said, “It’s a trust issue… how much do we really trust the Lord with our lives?”  After I had been born again, I never had anything stolen from me.  There were many robberies in our neighborhood in Houston, but never once did I have that problem.  On several occasions I had my garage door opener fail and leaved the door wide open for several hours while I was gone and never had anything taken, yet my neighbor directly across the street had several tools stolen out of his garage when he was at home with his door open.  I had lived through several hurricanes and a tornado but my house was always left without damage.  I have understood and enjoyed the protection the Lord has over His children for many years.  So I quickly discerned the Lord knew about this theft and He allowed it to happen for some reason.

It didn’t take too long for me to realize I had no choice but to follow the Word.  The consequence of loosing credibility with the Lord and those He has entrusted me to guide would be too much of a price to pay.  The Word says to turn the other cheek, so I did.  It says “of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again,” so I didn’t.  It says to “bless them that curse you,” so I did in front of my fellow brother down the street.  It says to “pray for them which despitefully use you,” so I did and my prayer was that any time he puts on one of my “anointed” t-shirts he would come under conviction to be saved.  At the end of that passage it says “Be ye therefore perfect, even as you Father which is in heaven is perfect,” so I was.  And please understand it’s not me I’m boasting about, it’s Christ in me that enables me to follow these commandments because it is utterly impossible to obey these in our flesh.  And for those that think a few t-shirts is not that big of deal, it wouldn’t have made any difference if it was fifty dollars worth of shirts or fifty thousand dollars.  I would have made the same decision as the bible does not distinguish based on amounts.  If the amount makes a difference, then we are still operating in the flesh.

We’ve since been warned by other believers that we need to lock everything up because now that thieves have gotten away with it they will try again.  But I decided that Susan and I would not change a thing.  We leave the gate open to our property all the time – that’s not going to change because I want people to feel welcome here any time of the day or night.  We don’t lock most of the doors on our buildings or RV’s and they stay unlocked when we leave.  That’s not going to change either. I’ve personally witnessed other believers change after having something stolen like trying to lock everything or acquiring security systems.  That is FEAR and “we have NOT been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.”  I decided if the Lord wants to give away something else we own, I’ll make it easy for Him to send then in to get it.  After all, It’s not ours anyway… it all belongs to Him along with the cattle on a thousand hills.

There is such a peace that passes understanding when we follow the commands of the Lord, especially when we are able to love our enemies and return good for evil.  This is what Jesus was talking about in making our burdens light and our yokes easy.  It puts all of the worry, fretting and revenge back on the Lord for Him to take care of.  It’s not our problem.  Just the satisfaction of resting in the Lord’s work and passing the examination was reward enough for me… But that’s not the end of the story.

This week on Thursday we received a package in the mail from our daughter.  Guess what was in the package?  You probably guessed right… Nine brand new t-shirts!  To clarify how unusual this was, my daughter has not given me any gifts for several years for birthday or father’s day or anything else, so this was very much out of the usual.  Long before she knew anything about the missing t-shirts, she had “decided” to purchase the t-shirts to send as a father’s day gift.

To add to this anecdote, I have a bunch of brand new pocket t-shirts packed away that are still in the packages they came in.  I bought them before we moved to replace mine when they wore out, so it’s not like I didn’t have any more shirts.  I had plenty.  But God decided to replace them anyway.  I knew the Lord was fully aware of my hidden t-shirt stash, so I again discerned that this was not just about replacing the shirts for me, for which I was very grateful, but He was going to use this for something much greater than that.

It turns out that the replacement shirts became a great ministering opportunity to share with others, as I am doing with you all.  My daughter and granddaughter thought it very peculiar that they bought the very thing that was stolen long before they knew they were stolen.  My wife was able to explain how the Lord was guiding her daughter even though she doesn’t have the closest relationship with Him.  I’m convinced the Lord is using this to help draw her to Himself.  The Lord was also able to use this as an example with my brother who is still struggling with the theft of his vehicle – how quickly He replaced with something new what the devil stole that was used and worn because I had made the choice to completely trust in Him for the outcome.  I also, against other “Christian” counsel, let it be known I put the new t-shirts back in the same place the old ones were stolen.  I refuse to allow someone else the power to force me to change my life and my beliefs.

As a ministering opportunity to you, my brothers and sisters, the Lord is well able to restore what our enemies have stolen and He can do a much better job of handling revenge than we can.  “Revenge is mine sayeth the Lord.  I will repay.”  We need to also keep in mind these people that do evil to us are not actually our enemies – they just work for him, and they need to have a change of employment.  My plan is to say nothing to this individual about his thievery.  But I will be ready to lead him to Christ when the conviction sets in.

We are all faced with opportunities to make right choices to follow the Lord or use the ways of the heathen world.  I hear a lot of talk from believers that think they have all the right answers, but what happens when we are forced to walk the talk determines the remnant from the masses of scripture quoting, church-as-usual believers.  “Many are called, few are chosen.”  We need to understand that, as sons and daughters of God, everything that happens to us is well known of the Lord and a lot of the time in all probability directed by Him for some reason “according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”   We do carry the full protection of the Lord, but that doesn’t mean He won’t allow evil to come our way to give us the opportunity to exercise our faith to practice what we know to be true in the face of adversity.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”   He wants us to operate in faith without knowing the outcome and remember, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”  And faith means we not only do whatever He asks, but do it without question or complaining.  This faith principle doesn’t just apply to thieves, but to all aspects of our walk with Him.

For example ladies, since the majority of current readers of this article are female, this principle of loving your “enemies” applies to obedience to husbands (“Your enemies are they of your own household” :^) ).  Do you obey your husband as unto the Lord or do you reluctantly obey him till he turns his back or till you can convince him how wrong he is, and then complain to the other women how bad you have it and insist they stand in agreement with you that God would change your husband?  I’ve got news for you.  The Lord is in control of your husband and your problem is with Him, not your husband (even if he’s not a believer).  You will never experience the peace and rest in your household the Lord has for us until you completely submit, stop the gossip, the complaining, the justification for disobedience, and the woe-is-me attitude.

It’s how we submit and obey in the midst of tribulation that determines how much we truly love the Lord.  Anyone can talk a good story… very…VERY few act in faith on the truth they already know.  We are in a time where the tribulation will be greater than any man has ever seen before.  The only way to get through all this is trust in the Lord and love our enemies.

I pray for your continued growth in the Lord. My the God of peace be with you all.

Your servant in Christ.