Unemployed Again, This is Number Eight

Somehow I got myself into a rather small career niche.  I sell training services for software companies.  You would think since I sell, that I could get a job selling pretty much anything… it is the same process after all.  But, no, it doesn’t work that way.  When they are hiring, they want someone that has been selling their type of product, widget or service. 

My job situation has been iffy since 2001.  But this situation is not really because of the economy.  No, this is totally because of God.  You see, this is his plan, and I accepted it a long time ago.

Well, I didn’t really know what his plan was when I accepted it.  But then, when you are making someone your Lord, it’s not like they have to tell you what they are going to do with you. 

Do I think he has done a bad job?  No, definitely not.  However, if I had been given the option to pick what great things I could do for God (and yes in my mind I did), this would not be what I would have chosen.  You know that scripture, the one where the first are last and the last are first?  Well, I am currently last.

It is funny though, in a position like this you really get to appreciate the differences that arise between the spirit and the flesh.  My flesh has to struggle daily with my place in the world and frankly, it does not react kindly to my current status.  My spiritual side has grown immensely.  Yes, this has been a really good thing. 

I am not quite Job.  I didn’t loose most of my family, nor do I have major physical pains, boils or otherwise.  I have had quite a number of unrelenting problems and a large number of “comforters”.  The biggest similarity is my name.  It also has three letters…my name is Lou.

Technically my name is Louis, but somewhere in fourth grade I decided to be called Lou.  My dad was called Lou, so was his father.  But I was Louie to my family and friends and Louis to my teachers. 

That day came when we had a substitute teacher.  She was calling out names to take attendance.  Mine was coming up and it was always amusing because my last name, Dignazio, looks harder to pronounce than it is.  So the substitutes would stumble through it painfully.  This one however said something different.  She asked if I was called Louis, Louie or Lou. 

"Wait a minute! I have an option?" 

After a second or two, right there and then, I decided I was Lou.  So I responded to her question…”Lou”.  It has been that way ever since.

So What!?  Well, when you look at it.  Louis, somehow just sounds snobbish.  Louie sounds like a goofy little kid.  Not to mention the words that rhyme with that, “Louie Louie Doggie Doey”, “Screwy Louie” and don’t get me started on that song from the 70’s…  I still hate that song. 

Lou, that just sounded more like a man, like my dad, like someone respected.  I didn’t ever expect Lou to be so similar to Job.

The name does mean something though.  It is Germanic, and it means “warrior of renown”.  I believe I am a warrior.  Not like your Conan the Barbarian kind, but one for God.  That is no small deal.  Hello, my name is Lou and I am a Warrior.

Jesus said our fight would not be with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers.  What does that mean?  Well with a more in-depth biblical study, you can figure out that he is referring to the ruler of this age, we call him satan. 

Satan means accuser. Devil means adversary.  Did you know we don’t really know his name?  It is not Lucifer.  Lucifer is a Latin word.  It was a word that the Hebrew phrase “star of the morning” was translated into when they created the Latin Vulgate translation. 

When the Vulgate was translated into English by King James in 1611, the translators assumed it was a name and left it in Latin.  They gave it a capital letter somewhere along the way too.   Don’t believe me?  Check it out.  It is rather interesting, especially since so much mythology about “Lucifer” has been plastered all over the churches, books and Hollywood. 

What is the point?  Well they always say “a good warrior should know his enemy”.  Now, I don’t think we really need to spend too much time there.  But it does help to not get caught up in his propaganda, especially the false name he likes to go by. 

I would rather know my King.  Yes, the one who is going to crush this petty prince.  He is who I fight for.  Satan is who I fight against.  This fight can and does get rather brutal.

The prince of this world is not looking for your soul.  You can’t make a deal with him and sell what you don’t own.  God owns your soul.  He made it, it is his and you have it on loan. 

What does the devil want?  He wants to be like God.  Same thing he told Adam and Eve.  He wants to ascend.  He wants you to be like minded. 

Personally, I believe he does this just to spite God.

I call this my Superman theory: 

It is like in the Superman story.  This Superman, though, has no Kryptonite, no weakness at all.  Lex Luther, hates Superman, but there is absolutely nothing he can do to hurt Superman. 

Enter Lois Lane.  Lois is human.  Superman and Lois marry.  They have a child and the child is human.  What is the worst thing that Lex Luther can do to hurt Superman? 

Everyone here says, “kill the child”.  No, the worst thing Lex could do is to turn the child against his Father.  You see?  This devil dude is evil.

So, how do we fight this enemy?  Words? Yes.  But we do have action.  In fact there should be much more action on the part of God’s army right now.  One we don’t speak up enough, and two we don’t get on our knees with the right focus.  You see, here he has already launched a successful attack, because most of our prayers are for us.  “Oh, God, I need a job”.  “Oh, God I want to be important”. “Oh, God, use me to make your name great!”  The problem is that we want to be great when he does it.  

Our focus needs to change. 

Did know that the word SIN means missed the mark?  It is an archery term.  It comes from the old English word SYN.  To SIN is to miss the mark.  Any good warrior knows, the mark is in the center of the target. 

Our focus has been on the rings, or even worse...other people nowhere near the target.  We need to work on our aim.  We need to aim for the center. 

That center is Jesus Christ.