Caught (In An Unguarded Moment)

One of my favorite bands back in my high school days was The 77’s. Yeah, you probably have never heard of them. They were one of the pioneers in Christian punk rock genre in the early 1980s. One of their songs from the All Fall Down album was titled Caught In An Unguarded Moment. While what happened to me last night (or was it early this morning?) does not reflect the lyrics and stories in the song, the title was certainly apropos. Before we get to what happened, I will set up the scene leading up to it.

Recently I taught a 10-week Bible Study series on Christians’ Spiritual Battle Armor (Ephesians 6:10-20). If you are not familiar with this passage, it is Paul passionately imploring Christians to put on their whole spiritual armor as God had given each one so they can resist the schemes of the Devil. Paul then used the various pieces of the Roman armor as metaphor for each aspect of spiritual protection God has given to believers. There is the belt of Truth, the breastplate of Righteousness, the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, the helmet of Salvation, the shield of Faith, the sword of the Spirit, and Prayers that ties everything together. During the 10-week study we went through in detail the purpose and application of each piece of the panoply. One thing I have learned is that when I teach or learn to walk more rightly before the Lord, I invariably get tested by Him.

So, my testing came last night. As many of you are aware, I have been commuting from Florida to Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia for the past 12 months after accepting a new job assignment. It was supposed to be a short-term commute until we sell our home. However, because of the horrific housing market, we were unable to sell our house in Florida and make enough money to pay for a new one in Pennsylvania. All the while, the extensive travel and absence became unhealthy for my family and our relationship. Therefore I took a voluntary layoff in early March. Well, that layoff will become a reality in 22 days, 18 hours, and about 36 seconds… and counting. It was the right thing to do as my family is far too important to me to be gone 50% of the time. Annette and I prayed about it and had complete peace over the decision.

Then Panic came last night, right into my Hampton Inn hotel room. In the past three months while there were moments of concern, I had been for the most part stoic about the whole thing. I had complete faith in God to be our Provider, and I still do. However, yesterday in the darkness of the night while lying in bed, unable to sleep, all of sudden I felt heaviness on my chest and my mind racing with raging thoughts. I felt like a kid with A.D.D. after drinking a 6-pack of Red Bull.

I was caught in an unguarded moment by Panic and he attacked me relentlessly and mercilessly. I have never been to a place where I faced unemployment without any real prospect before me. I was caught in an unguarded moment with my spiritual armor hung in the closet. Truth was not girded about me, the helmet that guarded my mind was not strapped on, the shield of faith leaned against the wall, and I didn’t even know where I laid my sword of the Spirit. What was worst was that in the darkness the size of Panic was magnified. Looking at it I could not tell where Panic ended and his shadow begun.

At 12:30 AM, after over an hour of struggling, unable to think my way out of a wet bag, I called for reinforcement… I picked up the phone and sent Annette a text, asking her to call me in the sliver of hope that she would be awake. I was not optimistic since we usually fall asleep on the couch by 9:30. But the phone did ring with her specially ring tone. As it turned out Bethany could not sleep so Annette had been up with her. [Coincidence? I think not!] What a wonderful helpmate she was where she prayed right over the phone for me… and it was no mere coincidence that the phone call was “dropped” in the middle (thanks a bunch, AT&T, you were the tool of the Devil last night!). She called back to finish the prayer and I slipped right to a deep slumber within a matter of minutes after hanging up. She was my Wonder Woman who came to the rescue by reminding me to put on the whole armor of God! The next time I opened my eyes, Dawn had chased away Panic.

I know Panic is still lurking about even now. However, with God’s armor properly fitted on and with my Wonder Woman by my side, I am ready to face him mano a mano. He may bruise me and he may even make me limp a little, but all I can say to Panic is, “Bring it on! You and the rest of your pals.”