What do you do when your back is up against the wall, you’re out of options, and you don’t know what to do? What do you do when you feel like one false move and you know you’ll find yourself at the bottom of the pit, surrounded by snakes and facing certain destruction? Why does it seem sometimes like we are all living a life like Indiana Jones, where the very temple we are searching for becomes our very own Temple of Doom? If we’re not faced with a pit of snakes, we’re faced with flinging, fancy swords coming at us from every direction. If we’re not facing giant boulders chasing us back down the very mountain we just climbed, we wake up tied to an altar with some evil guy trying to reach into our chest and take our heart out for his dinner. It just seems like sometimes, no matter where we turn or what we do, we find ourselves facing some sort of obstacle. And each one seems life-threatening. If you are living a life that seems like the Indiana Jones movies, then this article might just be for you.

There are so many bible stories that fit the above description. But for now, I want to continue with our Indiana Jones theme. Think about it for a moment. We get so caught up in each of our life-threatening situations and even the small roadblocks that we don’t stop long enough to realize what’s happening. If Harrison Ford’s character had stayed home in his nice, comfy house and continued in his role as a college professor, would he have encountered ANY of those quicksand experiences? Nope. So why did he leave the comforts of home to fly halfway around the world over and over and over again? Very simple. His desire to pursue adventure and fight evil was more important to him than anything his side of the earth had to offer.

When did his trials start? The second he started pursuing the “holy” (in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, at least, where Indy finds himself in search of the legendary holy grail). Alligators, fiery darts, poisonous snakes, evil men, quicksand, and giant tree-crushing boulders don’t bother the complacent “professors” in life. It’s only when you pursue the “holy” items in your “temple” that you find the entire underworld coming against you. It’s only when we give up pursuing our soul man’s desires and start pursuing the true Kingdom of God that the adventure really begins. And what an adventure it is! I know, I know, it doesn’t seem like an adventure when a pit viper is breathing down your neck ready to strike, but if your iron dome is up and you understand how to maneuver, you will do more than survive. You will thrive. When the scary native Bedouin pulls out a sword and starts swinging it around, you will simply smile, pull out your pistol, and drop him in his tracks.

Why is watching Indiana Jones so entertaining? Why are we not scared as they face every threat known to man and we pass the popcorn around and sip on our favorite soda? Because we know how it ends. We know he finds the Holy Grail. We actually enjoy the movie with all its crazy twists and turns because we know that no matter how big the alligators are, no matter how evil the witch doctor, we know that they make it. Why? Because the producer and director of the film wrote the script with an escape plan at every turn. The author of the script has already determined the outcome of the characters follow the script to a tee. Harrison Ford is not scared, because he knows how it ends. Are you starting to get it yet?

So far, this entire journey has been about learning the script behind the script. Indy had the map. He had the written directions. But without knowing how to use the directions, or how to interpret them properly, it was certain doom. Not only that, but the directions didn’t mention anything about all these life-threatening trials and what to do in each situation. Where was the play-by-play? THOSE directions would come from the Author of the script that knows how to interpret the treasure map.

In our own lives, our treasure map is the scripture, the written Word. It is the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path. It is the great light that burns bright behind us that reveals the path in front of us. But, as we know, you may be able to see the path, but what do you do when you encounter robbers, thieves, and scorpions on the path? That’s when we go to the Author’s script, the personalized script of the Spirit. That is the journey of discovery that we have been on, to discover and grow the spirit man inside of us so that we will not only be able to navigate all the booby traps the enemy sets for us, but we will also be able to defeat him and capture the “holy grail”…that which is Holy.

What IS the Holy Grail anyway? In Hebrew, the word for “holy” is “Kadosh/Kadash.” It means, “that which is set apart for a purpose.” When we actually go on the quest for the holy, many people believe that means they are searching for God. The problem is that He is unsearchable. He is everywhere and is broadcasting His signal in every corner of the universe. When we take seeking the Holy seriously, what we are really doing is focusing on the Holy that is inside of us: our spirit man that has the ability to perceive and connect to the Holy.

As Yeshua said, the Kingdom of God is already inside the believer because the infinite container, the spirit man that can house the fullness of God, is already in place inside him. To “search for God” (the Holy) is to grow the spirit man to such a degree that it can begin to pick up the signals He is broadcasting all around you, the signals that your soul has no capability to receive. This is how we truly have the ability to traverse the jungle of life with joy. When we know the “script” of the Author and our spirit man is picking up His signals, how is it possible to fret, worry, or fear?

The written Word is very logical. It is the Truth side of the coin. Rest on the Sabbath because your body needs rest. Don’t commit adultery because it will kill your marriage. Don’t steal because it is not what He gave you, etc. For the most part, the commandments of God are very logical. On the other hand, once your soul is in line with the written Word of God, every move you make through the jungle is to be made through the Spirit side of the coin. And that side of the coin is just the opposite of logic. Many times the gentle voice of the Spirit makes no sense, seems to completely contradict logic, and leaves us shaking our heads wondering if God really knows what He’s doing. But this is how we let the Author of the script of our lives actually leads us through every trap that is set.

What most of us do is make our own decisions when we get backed into a corner by what we “think” is the best option at the moment. Then we seek “counsel” from other people we respect, people who are wise in the eyes of the world, hoping that they will bring us to a final decision. The problem is that most people give counsel based on their own wisdom, their own logic, and their own intuition. When was the last time you got counsel from someone on a serious issue in your life and the person told you that they’d have to get back with you because they needed to pray and fast first? Most of the time – and I have been guilty of this my entire life – they will give advice based on the “facts” they’re hearing in the physical while their spirit man, the one who picks up on all the REAL facts that the soul cannot see, is left completely out of the equation. They’re giving advice that will radically affect your life and they’re doing it off the top of their head?

Take Moses. If anyone in the bible fits the character of Indiana Jones, it would be him. Moses knew the Sinai desert like the back of his hand. When the Israelites left Egypt, he knew exactly how to get to the Promised Land. How did he end up trapped at the Red Sea when he KNEW it was a dead end? Where is that logic and good leadership? Anyone in their right mind would have said right off the bat that he was a terrible leader who clearly needed an updated version of Google Maps. But he ended up where he did, up against a rock and the hard place of the Red Sea because the Spirit gave him those directions, directions that were illogical to the soul. The Spirit saw something the soul could not. The Spirit had the plans of drowning the Egyptian army in a single wave, an outcome and “fact” that the soul simply could not see.

How often do we really let the Spirit guide our decisions? When the Spirit speaks, He will always follow it with signs. No sign…no move. What was the sign that the Israelites were supposed to move? The cloud moved. When the cloud moved, they moved. It wasn’t based on emotion, the situation, or what they liked or didn’t like about this or that. It was based on one single thing: the “voice” of God.

This is what the Father is teaching me in a very big way. I spent my entire life making decisions based on what I thought was best, having no idea that I was blowing it in many of those situations because I never knew how to let HIM lead. I led my family and my ministry with 90% of the Truth side of the coin and the Spirit got a chance to lead about 10% of the time. I had never been trained on even what it means to let Him lead. I thought I knew. I did not. What He is teaching me now is revolutionary. As we move forward, I am going to share with you what He has taught me on how to let Him lead and how to fight something that we simply cannot see.

Do you know how to never lose a chess game, even if the enemy has you in checkmate? What do you do when you don’t know what to do and all your logic says you need to do something? If you are in checkmate and there is simply no way out, the only move is DON’T MOVE! If you don’t move, the enemy can’t win. How often do we actually let Yahweh move for us? You might say that we can’t do that in the real world. Was Gideon not in the “real world” when the odds were against him? Was King Asa not outnumbered in the “real world” when he faced a million-man army? Was it not the “real world” when Moses and the Israelites were up against the Red Sea? That WAS the REAL world! Has God changed? Has He stopped fighting for His people? Has He stopped giving us divine assistance? According to scripture, we actually have MORE divine assistance at our disposal because of Yeshua’s sacrifice!

The King of kings is BEGGING to be the King of our lives and to fight our battles for us. But we’re too busy praying for Him to give us the wisdom, understanding, discernment, and knowledge so that we can fix it ourselves! What would it actually be like to face a problem, get into our prayer closet, and LET HIM sculpt the circumstance and fix our problems? I’ll tell you what it would be like. It would be like Indiana Jones outrunning the rock, getting out of a snake-infested pit, not getting hit by any of the thousand bullets flying all around him, ducking when the blades come out of the walls from nowhere and finally laying his hands on the “holy.” If you’re Harrison Ford, you know it’s all an act. You know you’re going to be just fine. How? Because you can trust the Author’s script. You know that when a part comes up that’s dangerous that you’re way too valuable to risk. So the “Author” takes you out and puts your stunt double in your place. And your stunt double is the Spirit of the Most High God, the Commander of the Hosts of Heaven!

When you are up against the wall and the scene looks dangerous, DON’T MOVE! Let your stunt double take your place. He knows every move of the enemy and knows the script inside and out. Ladies and gentlemen, your spirit man has been seated in Heavenly places according to Ephesians chapter 2. Stop trying to fix your problems. You can’t fight what you can’t see anyway. Our fight is not with flesh and blood but with the spirits and principalities in wicked high places. You are frustrated, stressed out, and full of anxiety because you are trying to defeat an enemy with your soul instead of your spirit, and that’s like punching the air. Real joy and real shalom come from knowing who the Author of the script is and knowing that sometimes, we don’t have to do anything but watch Him do it all.

“…Stand still, and see the salvation of YHWH, which He will accomplish for you today” Exodus 14:13

“…And when you have done all, STAND!” Ephesians 6:13

Shalom,
Jim Staley