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A Picture of Battle
In the past few months it has been confirmed to me that there is a battle taking place for control of my soul. Though I’ve known this in my head for 5 years; the stakes continue to rise at an alarming rate that now cannot go unnoticed. I am in this very real phase of my life when I’m recognizing sin that I cannot atone for. To put it another way, I am recognizing and catching actions that the “sin in me” wills to commit against Him (God, or Jesus).
So this then is the picture. I stand in the middle of a battle field with the sword of the Spirit in hand. Swinging feverishly I hurry back to the ready, knowing the armies sent for me will not stop any time soon. Each moment I hope that friends will come to fight by my side the few foes I cannot wound; those who have seen & caused me to fall before. Remembering friends that have come before renews some strength, but cannot replace the real thing. I go down on one knee, my sword still at the ready…it must be at the ready. In they sweep, peering straight through to my heart. My seams begin to loosen, for they know the weaknesses I’ve chosen to leave. As the pain & suffering become too great to bear, weapons fly through the air…and connect with my enemies. The Lord’s grace surrounds me, perfecting my armor and restoring my broken heart. His will compels me, and from the heart with the Spirit my enemies are driven out. I turn to find my friends, generals of the armies of God surrounded by the prayers of His people. I surrender to them my life, for they save it each time and renew my strength in the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. To restore my soul I must mount up with them, and go to save the lost of this spirit battleground.
Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory now and forever. Amen.
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I wrote this about 3 years ago. I recently found it, a lone entry in a notebook I had good plans to use for something visionary. Clearly, I never got to use it for what I had hoped.
In any case, I was struck at how accurate of a picture this turns out to be (at least to my understanding) of Warring in the Spirit. There is a thread of truth that needs to be present in our lives surrendered to Him; the ability to receive help from those He sends to our aid. Granted, this could look like angels like came to Daniel, and Joseph, and many others. It could look like a new perspective as you wake up in the morning and somehow "borrow" a new outlook on situations that challenge you. But what if it is a friend? What if it is someone you thought was an enemy? I suppose the most obvious question is; do you limit how God is able to reach you?
Put yourself in the equation described. Down on one knee, trying to fend of enemies that you have never before been able to wound, but are very familiar to you. It's a no win situation for you alone. Might I even go as far as to say it's even sometimes a no win situation when it's you with the Holy Spirit vs. these other things. I say that fully aware that "anything is possible with God." I do not mean to imply that the power of the Holy Spirit is trumped by any type of evil. It is very clear that the power of our God is more, better, other, separate, and infinitely greater than any evil that would come against us.
I urge you to consider though that God designed the battle differently than that. God did not design a 1 man or 1 woman take on all comers brawl (save what Jesus Christ has accomplished - that was a 1 man show...and the 1 man was fully God too). God drew up battle plans for His church so that we would have one another's back, and that all of us would be falling back on Christ for power and for endurance; for faith and using the truth empowered by the Holy Spirit as the weapons of this spiritual war.
Someone once told me that we are at war as Christians (mostly in the spirit with spiritual enemies). At the time I thought to myself, "Really? At war huh? I don't even know how to be at war in the Spirit." In many ways, I'm sure I still don't.
Much of war is dependence. When I think about war, even war as we understand it like nation against nation, war strikes me as a very dependent action. Nations choose to go to war independently, but the rules of engagement are very much a team sport. Unless it is some type of stealth sabotage or surprise mission, you go everywhere with someone else. You don't go alone, because chances are the enemy is traveling in a group too. If they ran across just you, you'd be in trouble, outnumbered, and overwhelmed. That's just common sense, right?
Then why are we so independent as Christians? Why do we tend to want to fight the sin battles alone? How is it that, even with the knowledge that God designed this Christian thing as a team deal, we separate from one another when sin strikes a weak spot, or especially when sin is plotting an attack on our lives. The enemy is tricky, and 2 enemies come ahead of the others in battle. One is named pride, and the other is named shame.
I'm convinced that one of the most difficult things for a Christian to be is sure of who he or she is in Christ. I'm talking about grounded in the truth of the gospel that claims us as adopted sons and daughters and ushers us into a loving relationship with Jesus Christ by His grace. Solid, true, grounded, reinforced faith that is unshaken. That's good defense. That's armor of God type stuff. Have you stepped through Ephesians 6 and covered yourself with the armor of God? Ever felt like you had a weak spot?
"When you are weak, He is strong." He is strong for you by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is strong for you through the power of the Holy Spirit IN OTHERS. He is strong for you in the miraculous that only God is capable of. Trust me, if you try to go it alone, pride and shame will lie in wait and pounce on you and create despair in you when you are most vulnerable...and in your time of need. Sometimes you need to call for help...and you should call for help and be unashamed to call for help. That's how God designed it. We are to reach out to Him, and to those that are fighting the battle together alongside of us.
This is real time folks. I'm not talking about calling someone you know on the phone and saying, "Man, I just messed up." Don't get me wrong, you should do that too. I'm talking about when you see it coming. What if you asked someone to just spend the day with you, because you knew it was going to be a difficult day? It's really simple stuff. I'm talking about the power of basics here. I'm not talking about getting together and speaking in tongues and stuff. (Although, if you can speak in tongues, it is proven to be a good armor reinforcer). It's just to get around other people, even if for a little while to take the edge off of temptation. We've all been there. I don't feel extremely vulnerable sharing any of this. Anyone who claims to have never been tempted I think needs to open their eyes. The spirit ones; the ones that show the battlefield.
This is all like Spirit Battles 101. I don't think it's extremely deep stuff, but it's very difficult to practice how God designed it - especially for us United States kids who preach independence every chance we get! Until next time.
