Sometimes it
seems like all of life is a battle. The
apostle Paul told Timothy to “fight the good fight of the faith,” and to
“endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” A Christian does not fight because he wants to, but
because he has to.
Everyone
experiences different kinds of battles in life. Each type of battle has a different purpose. In spiritual battles we must learn to
resist the devil. In situational
battles we must overcome circumstances beyond our control and learn to trust
God on a deeper level. In emotional
battles we learn to handle personal tragedies, family crises, and emotional
traumas. In moral battles we
face the temptations and confusion of the world around us. In intellectual battles we face the
skepticism of our day. We see the world
becoming invaded with cults and false religions – each one claiming to offer
solutions for all of our problems. We
must learn to confront this falseness with the truth of God’s word.
All of the
various types of battles in life have an underlying spiritual conflict. Therefore we must be spiritually prepared
for battle. Like the apostle Paul, we
are ordinary, weak human beings, but we must not use human plans and
methods to win our battles. We must use
God’s mighty weapons, rather than those made by men, to knock down the
devil’s strongholds (2 Cor. 10:3,4).
The visible
difficulties confronting us are not the real enemy. The real enemy is the devil and the evil spirits under his
control – stirring up the divisiveness and unrest in the whole world. Only with God’s power and God’s armor can we
stand against the overwhelming numbers of evil spirits who rule so much of this
world. If we fight our daily battles
using our own strength and our own methods, we will lose. If we use every piece of armor that God has
given us, we will survive. Our belt is
God’s truth. Our breastplate is our
relationship with God. Our shoes are
the Good News that there is peace in God.
Our shield is our faith in God, which can deflect any assaults from
those who accuse or revile us. Our
helmet is our salvation through Jesus Christ and our sword is the Sword of the
Spirit – which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:10-17).
Three times,
Satan tried to tempt Jesus to sin. Each
time, Jesus responded only with God’s word (Matt. 4:4-10). After three unsuccessful tries, the devil
left him. When we are attacked, we must
respond in truth, confidence, and compassion – knowing who we are and
discerning the true enemy. Very often,
the true attack is not from the person in front of us, but from the larger
spiritual conflict in the world around us.
Our only defense
against the invisible, spiritual attacks against us is our relationship with
God, His word, and His Holy Spirit. “So
give yourselves completely to God.
Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you. Come near to God, and God will come near to
you.” (James 4:7-8a NCV)
