"Rage, Rage against the Dying of the Light"

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

...

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. ..."

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I have long loved this poem by the poet Dylan Thomas, but it has been on my mind quite a lot lately, and I'm not sure why. Maybe on some unconscious level it's because one of my close church friends is having a severe health crisis right now and we are all worried about her and her life.

Yes, we know God is in control. He is, after all, the Master of our Hearts and the Universe itself.

But, He's given us a "fight" within, a desire to live life as long as we can, to love this life He's given us with every ounce of energy within us...And when it comes to crises in our lives, we have to choose whether we are going to sit down and let life do what it will...or fight.

My friend is a fighter. She's always been a fighter and is known for saying, in circumstances of duress, "You better step back. I ain't always been saved." And though she says it with a smile and half-laugh, no one who knows her at all believes she's even remotely joking.

Because she is someone with a natural fight in her. She's an oldest child and she's had to fight for everything she's attained and accomplished in her life. It hasn't always been easy for her. Maybe that's why she knows the value of throwing a good fist.

While we can't literally "throw a fist" at the devil, my dear friend is someone who would spiritually throw as many punches as possible. When someone is sick, or in a crisis, she will quote the Word over them and immediately or stop and start praying--even sometimes in her prayer language. Honestly, my friend is one of those people who would come out swinging if and when she or someone she loved was put in a ring with the devil.

I admire the fight in her.

Yet even as I write this, she is no doubt in a hospital bed, probably finishing her evening meal, staring her thoughts and the enemy itself straight in the eye. I know she must feel all alone, though she knows people are praying all around the world for her...I know she would like nothing more than to get up and throw a few punches herself...and then looks at her body and realizes that the enemy of our souls does not play fair--and the enemy is out to kill us, piece by piece, snatch away the best of us.

It's always scary when it looks like the enemy is up a few points.

John 10:10 tells us what the enemy of our souls is all about. To steal (level one), kill (level two), and destroy (level three). It's a series of stages. He wants us all obliterated.

But the second part of this verse tells us about our Lord. What He is all about. "I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." That's the life and living our Lord came to deliver to ALL of us who have given our hearts and lives to Him.

It's clear in John 10:10 what the enemy's about--and his desire for every single Child of God. And we all have a choice. As children of God, we can sit there and take what the enemy dishes out...or we can RAGE against it, claiming the Promises of God over our lives.

Yes, the enemy is battling for her life. And, yes, he appears to have a point or two up on her.

But she's a fighter. She's not looking at the score, anyway. She's Promised. She's a Child of the King. He called her "just as she was"--with the kind of fight inside of her that it takes to meet the enemy square on.

And so she has a choice. To Rage or Not to Rage.

My guess? She'll RAGE.