Sleeping With the Enemy: The One Thing You Lack

Editor’s note – We run this piece because it names something every honest believer recognizes: the quiet compromise we have learned to live beside. The author refuses easy comfort and instead asks the harder question of what we already know needs to go. It is a short, pointed call to obedience, and we trust it will press on the right nerve for many readers.

It’s the real highway to the danger zone.

"Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, 'One thing you lack ...'" [Mark 10:21]

There’s a dangerous place we can live as believers. It’s real estate where our hearts feel right with God, but our lives still house quiet compromises. We justify and minimize them. We coexist with these diabolical roommates. We learn how to sleep with the enemy.

The Subtle Lie of “Almost is good enough.”

In 2 Chronicles 15:17, we’re told something striking about King Asa:

"Although the pagan shrines were not removed ... Asa's heart remained completely faithful." [2 Chronicles 15:17]

At first glance, that sounds commendable. His heart was right with God. But read it again slowly. The shrines were still there. And that’s the tension many of us live in. We love God. We serve God. We believe we’re “good.” But we’ve allowed certain “high places” to remain.

Here’s the hard truth:

What we tolerate, we eventually normalize. And what we normalize, we stop fighting. We develop a tolerance and a taste for the poison we drink daily. “It’s not that bad. C’mon. Nobody died. The world didn’t come to a screeching halt. What’s the big deal?” The capacity for self-deception is stunning in many people. And I should know. I wear the “duped myself” crown.

Editor’s note – Asa is a sobering case study precisely because his heart was counted faithful and the shrines still stood. The author is right to let that tension sit. A right-feeling heart and an unremoved high place can occupy the same life for years.

The “One Thing” We Keep Avoiding.

When Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler, He didn’t give him a list. He went straight to the nerve:

"One thing you lack ..." [Mark 10:21]

It’s rarely ten things. It’s usually one thing — the thing we don’t want to touch.

Maybe it’s the habit we justify or the relationship we know isn’t right. Maybe it’s the bitterness we’ve learned to live with or the compromise we quietly protect. Maybe it’s what comes out of our mouths when we are around certain people. Or what we see and what we do when nobody is looking. We say, “It’s not that big of a deal.”

But if God is putting His finger on it, it is a big deal to Him. He desires to see us blessed to be a blessing. And He can’t pour out spiritual blessing through a kinked hose. There is a weak flow. But it’s not the gusher that the hose was designed for. We have a spiritual salt that is barely tasteable. And a dim light.

Conviction Is Not Condemnation. It’s an Invitation.

"Jesus, looking at him, loved him ..." [Mark 10:21]

Before Jesus challenged the rich, young ruler, He loved him. That means when God highlights something in our lives to tear down or eliminate, it’s not rejection. It’s refinement. It’s good parenting. It’s “chesed” … a Hebrew word that means ‘kindness or love between people.’

So, when we feel that internal nudge, we shouldn’t ignore it. That’s God, inviting us higher. Jesus told Paul it must be hard to “kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14). Paul had been spiritually prodded and poked for a while. Yet standing defiant. It can work for a while. But …

Editor’s note – This is the hinge of the piece: conviction is the Father’s kindness, not His rejection. Hold these two truths together. The God who loves the young ruler is the same God who names the one thing, and He names it because He loves.

Stop Delaying What You Already Know to Do.

If you remember something is wrong, stop and go make it right. Make the call, send the email, delete the website, write the letter, return the stolen property, end the relationship.

Not later. Not when it’s convenient. Now. Delayed obedience is still disobedience.

Do the next thing God already told you to do. Today, He’s reminding you of an unfinished task.

We can’t walk in freedom while protecting bondage. We cannot pray for a breakthrough, ask for a blessing, or desire peace while holding onto the very thing that’s sabotaging all three.

There is a condition called “Stockholm Syndrome” where hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or abusers. We can call it “self-sabotage” or any other comfortable title we want. It’s just the way I am. Just keepin’ it real.

But the truth of the matter is that we are allowing our calloused, comfortable hearts to become familiar with the very thing God wants to remove. We keep the splinter in our finger. Why pull it? I can still write and drive a car. God has spiritual tweezers. All we have to do is show Him which finger.

Do I want comfort, or do I want freedom?

A Straight Question For You, Dear Reader:

What is the “one thing” you already know needs to go? That’s the high place. That’s the enemy you’ve been tolerating.

Final Thought: Tear It Down.

We don’t have to live there, cohabitating with mediocrity or destruction. We can stop ignoring it and tear it down. Not tomorrow. Not someday. Today. No more “Stockholm Syndrome” for our captors. Enough is enough. There is a new day beginning, a new season, an enhanced life.

The life you’re asking God for is on the other side of the thing you’ve been unwilling to let go.

You are standing on the ledge of your destiny. “Might as well jump!” – Van Halen

Thanks for reading this. I hope God spoke clearly to you as you read this.

The Lord bless you and keep you! -Issachar

A Word from the Editor
The author’s plea is finally the gospel’s own logic: the One who loved the rich young ruler loves us enough to name what binds us. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The high place does not come down by our willpower but by surrender to the God who already paid to set us free. So bring Him the splinter today, and trust that what He asks you to release was never worth more than the freedom He gives in its place.

Editor Comment: The image of the kinked hose and God's spiritual tweezers gives this reflection a memorable, tactile honesty, and pairing Asa's lingering shrines with the rich young ruler's 'one thing' draws the whole piece to a single, searching point.

This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.