Warfare is Right Here

The concept of Christians being in a constant battle is either disregarded or misunderstood as an exaggeration of the Church. Either life is life and we must live through it while maintaining some moral uprightness; or life is a struggle to live uprightly and we give a nod to being in “The Lord's Army” and battling against the Devil who wants us to sin.

But the Christian life is more than both of those ideas. Yes there is an Enemy to our God and Saviour. Yes there are daily struggles to remain pure and spotless children of God. Yes we know there are human enemies trying to stop us from doing what is right. But how often do we look beyond the physical and peer into the spiritual? How often do we consider the seemingly random and outrageous thoughts which pop into our minds (to lust or to doubt or to hate) as more than mere temptations but as specific, targeted attacks against us to get us to destroy our view of God or our love for God or our devotion to God? How often do we see the conflicts or misunderstandings between the people we are ministering with as the same targeted attacks? How often do we see the roadblocks or delays or dead-ends as attacks on our mind in Christ?

We are in a daily fight for our lives. Satan and his demons desire to erase God from the world. The Bible records that Satan has lost the battle at the end of it all, but he is still active now. Therefore, Satan knows he will not conquer God in the end, but he still works to conquer the hearts and lives of the people of earth before the final destruction of himself. He wishes to keep mankind in darkness and to turn Christians from the light into the darkness.

According to that goal, Satan and his devils daily work against God. They whisper words of fear, hatred, pride, or deceit. They flash images of lust, anger, animosity or inadequacy. They encourage ideas of loneliness, inability, ignorance, or turning back. They fight with full barracks, full quivers, loaded guns, ongoing ferocity. They taunt with thoughts you are inadequate to serve God. They haunt with regret and fears of the past. They flirt with selfishness and self-indulgence.

Whenever you decide to follow God and to live for Him, then you will be assaulted in the spiritual world, sometimes with attacks entering the physical world. There is no exception. Christ understood that and told his disciples that He would give them power to do His commands. He also explained He was sending other Gospel Bearers as lambs among wolves. Paul explains that we need to be clear-minded and focused and mentally aroused to the world around us both spiritually and physically because Satan—our foe, our nemesis, our stumbler, our tempter, our accuser, our adversary—is out there. Satan is a lion—fierce, angry, dangerous, hungry—and wants to devour us. He doesn't simply want to kill our hopes or our ministry. He doesn't want to just stop us from following God. He wants to destroy us. He wants to get us to the point where we decide to turn away from God indefinitely and he will use whatever method can get us to that point.

Satan is not a a whimsical, abstract idea. He is powerful and has many tools at his advantage. He uses people to progress his agenda, he uses demons, and he uses our flesh. He will send people to hurt us emotionally or physically. He will oppress us with doubts and fears and anxieties. He will tempt us with lust and pride and greed. He doesn't really care what he destroys you with—he just wants to render you useless. ((Side note: While sin has its consequences, you are never useless to God. He is active in the business of restoring people and healing their hearts and repairing lives. The only way you are useless to God is if you believe you are and thus hold back your heart and life from Him. But if you surrender yourself to Him He will use you.))

So be thoughtful as you go through your day. When you interact with people or do your ministry or drive to work, how is Satan attacking you? Easy things are the following: Thoughts of bitterness or anger. Thoughts of lust or worry. Thoughts of pride. But sometimes they come unexpectedly and you assume it is just life or just the facts. You walk into work to find out a rumor has been spread about your character. A guy nearly drives you off the road. A misunderstanding between your colleague prevents progress in your ministry. You realize there are way too many people for you to share the Light of Christ with. You realize you are too dependent to fully dive into following God and you doubt you can do it by yourself or that Christ would be with you. You get a tangle in your official paperwork that blind-sides you. Your spouse or kids drive you up the wall with tiny, consecutive moments of chaos or drama.

The thing you need to do is to identify them as they come. Realize that if the thoughts suggests that you doubt God's word or to stop following Him, then it isn't from God. If the thought is to further the kingdom, spread the love of God, share the Light of Christ, then it is from God. You can pretty easily determine most of the voices and their speakers. Therefore, when you hear the voice of Darkness whisper for you to take steps away from God, then identify it as a personal attack against you. And when you identify it, abide by the following: Submit yourself to God. Know His say in the matter and give yourself over to His leading. Then resist the urge to turn from God. Resist the attack. Don't let the demons oppress you. You have authority granted by Jesus Christ to dispel demons. The Cross and Resurrection of Christ grants you to live free from sin. Therefore, under the power of King Jesus, resist the devils. When you submit to God and resist the attacks, Satan will flee. He will run away.

Today, live in constant awareness that you are in a battle against your Enemy. Live knowing you are being attacked at every turn. Begin identifying those attacks and commit yourself to following God and resisting the urges to doubt or fear or be angry. Actively pursue God and dwell in His presence and power and love so that you can embrace the love of Christ that restores you and empowers you to love Him.