Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:11-12)
After living a peaceful life for some time, I found myself in a state of disarray. I had been overworking and defocusing on what I inerantly thought was a good cause. Filled with anxiety, my body responded with stress, aches and pain. I was tripping out. My behavior wasn’t the same, I was physically ill and felt like I was in a tail spin, spiraling out of control.
After a period of brokenness, I repented for my actions which could not be undone, of course. However, the lack of peace seemed to linger. It took a friend from highschool to mention that I was under attack. Sure, I had taken a short course on spiritual warfare, but hadn’t spent much time dwelling on it. After all, we overcome the world! Right? Ultimately, we are responsible for our actions, but Paul precautions us in 2 Cor. 2:11 “ lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” In other words, we should be aware of his schemes and tactics.
After the talk with my friend, I pulled my old Disciples Victory workbook off the shelf and decided to read up on spiritual warfare. It’s one thing to be struggling with one’s flesh, but keep in mind that there are external forces at work to try to make you stumble too. I found this section in the book at it blew my mind:
Satan’s methods are designed to defeat God and humanity by limiting the gospel. He seeks to keep you from giving a verbal testimony and a testimony through example. You will not be able to spread God’s Word by your word or by your actions if you give in to Satan, and that is exactly how he tries to silence you. (MasterLife 3, The Disciple’s Victory. Avery T. Willis and Kay Moore)After reading that, I wept more, because that is exactly what he tried to do. Silence me, and hinder the message I was sharing with a fellow Christian from taking root. Suddenly, everything I had been sorrowful about myself had even less meaning, as I realized the impact it may have had on the person I had been reaching out to. When we act in ways unbecoming as Christians, our words are diluted, if not ignored or even considered hypocritical. We may understand principles of repentance and grace, but everyone else may not. Although our hearts and intentions may be right, our credibility can be shot.
So, how do we withstand the wiles of the enemy? Like any good soldier, know and beware of your enemy. Scripture refers to Satan as the tempter, the evil one, the god of this age, the deceiver, the destroyer, to name the least. In addition to these titles which explain his tactics, he preys on our weaknesses and tries to divide and conquer; to isolate us from each other, because we are stronger in unity as we encourage one another. The list of his trickery goes on and on, but I’ll stop here for now.
I might also note that awareness of spiritual warfare is not focusing on it. Some times Christians get to rebuking the devil so much during prayer, I wonder if they’re praying to God or him. Paul tells us later in Ephesians 6:11-18 to be prepared by putting on the full armor of God. In short, the Word, faith, salvation, peace, truth and righteousness. Stay prayed up for yourself and others and be watchful. I had a friend that told me to sleep in my armor. Never take it off. LOL!
Truly, it’s not a laughing matter though. Spiritual warfare is real. There are greater forces attacking God’s peoples’ minds and lives everyday all day, but we prevail. I may have failed the test initially, but thank God for His mercy. He gives make-up exams. Next time, I’ll be suited up in my armor.
People of God, we fall down, but we get up. We may lose a few battles, but the fight is fixed. The war is won. We overcome the world, right? Right!
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ~1 John 4:4
