WARLOCK

I’m currently enthralled in another Wilbur Smith novel called “Warlock”. An epic tale of Pharoahs and Egypt, I can’t help but think of one of the best children’s stories from the Bible and after doing some research it appears that Smith’s fictional stories are often more fact than fiction.

In the book there is one scene where the Warlock “Taita” turns his staff into a cobra and forces some priests to leave the building. At other times this man prays to the Egyptian god’s Horus, Seth and Lostris. It’s fascinating to think that at one time there were cultures that actually cultivated the supernatural forces around them, often times they were dark forces, but they believed in them and that gave them power nonetheless.

What I’ve found most interesting about Smith’s stories is his constant use of religion, faith, God and gods thoughout his novels. His protagonists are normally strong believers in one form of religion or another and that faith, whatever it may be, is passionate and devout. The prayers are constant, the offering of thanks incessant, the love immeasurable. It fascinates and shames me.

In every decision, big or small, i do not consult God for his advice. I do not seek his blessing and guidance for every path I choose. Instead I trust in myself and only when I think it truly necessary do I call on the Lord for help or assistance and even then it is with only a half-measure of faith that I truly expect him to come to my aid.

What if I was like one of Smith’s characters whose total focus, every thought, deed, or word was first passed through a filter of faith? What if I sought the will of the Lord and sat and prayed for hours until I received an answer?

We are an arrogant culture that quickly dismisses the spiritual and the supernatural. We are full of our own self-confidence and independence and we deny our need for a deity.  Instead we make our own way and when our world falls apart then we turn to God and ask Why? We shake our first and we place blame and we curse because we know what was right and it was God that failed us, not ourselves.

It might be a fools quest to chase a life that is greater than what the world around me is trying to sell me. I hope to achieve something great with my life even if that greatness is only noticed in Heaven.

In the future I’m going to make a concerted effort to seek God’s wisdom and his counsel. I’ve been going on 10 years now dealing with the same issues in my life and trying to handle them on my own. I’m tired and ready to ask for help.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places… EPH 6:12