Spiritual warfare. It’s more real than we think. Spiritual warfare is more than demons and evil spirits, but the everyday temptations and challenges we face as believers. Anytime you’re faced with the opportunity to be who you were before Christ, you’ve been alerted to engage in Spiritual Warfare. There’s a passage in scripture that says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty for the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). We are in a battle with powers that we don’t always see, but in ways, we can most definitely experience them in our everyday lives. It’s not always intense warfare in prayer, it can simply be in the moments when we have to make a choice. You know those James 4:7 (Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.) moments where you must choose to resist. Resisting the urge to watch that thing, to eat that thing, to do that thing – that’s all spiritual warfare. The world has convinced so many of us that we must only be prepared for spiritual battle when demonic activity is present. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. There’s always a battle to be won and we are equipped with exactly what we need, it’s called the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20). God has prepared us for the spiritual battles we face on every level and in our everyday lives.
There’s something key to Spiritual Warfare that I don’t believe Christians talk about enough, and that key is rest. I know it probably sounds counterproductive as a war tactic but let me give you some perspective:
The enemy wants to attack you in order to tire you out and have you operate from the thought that you have to fight your battles on your own. But there’s an attribute of God that I have come to learn more about, that attribute is His Might.
Psalm 24:8 says that the Lord is strong and mighty, mighty in battle. This means that as believers, we’re on the side of the strongest contender in every war waged against us. As I began to lean into the understanding of who God is as the One who is mighty in battle, it actually brought me closer to Him. I don’t know about you, but, when I invited God into the warzone, I found myself in, the fight became a whole lot easier. In fact, I would hear the Holy Spirit to tell me to rest more. This is the same thing God told the children of Israel in Exodus 14:14. They were told that God would fight for them and that they only needed to be still, to stay calm, to hold the peace they had left, even if it was a little bit. That sounds like a fixed fight to me! What makes this whole warfare thing less daunting is that God orders His angels to protect us! As if having Him on the battlefield isn’t already enough, God uses His angels to protect us in all that we do (Psalm 91:11), whether we are fighting back against the enemy or resting our way to victory.
Sometimes we don’t know what words to pray or how to resist the enemy’s objective to make us fall, but we have the Mighty Warrior on our side and His host of angels all around.
I know this world can be tough. We’re at war in our minds, in our hearts, and sometimes with our actions. In Romans 7:14-22, Paul talks about this constant struggle he faces which is essentially the war between his will to do good and his natural submission to doing that which is evil due to his flesh. This goes to show that the enemy is relentless in his attempt to use us to make a mockery of God and the only way he can is if we don’t let God step in and fight for us at times. He will always fight with us, but sometimes we have to step back and let God be God. Let Him remind us of His power and might and how without Him, we would lose every battle in sight, but thank God for a fixed fight in the favor of His children. I want you to apply this understanding to your life. Think about a war you’re in right now and think about how engaged you’ve been in this fight. If you’ve just been in this fight without earnestly stepping your foot onto the battlefield, I encourage you to ask God for the boldness to do so in prayer, thought, word, and action. If you have been going through a time of spiritual warfare and you’re about to tap out, ask God to show you how you can rest effectively while He fights for you. Remember that the battle is already won and that victory was declared a long time ago, it’s just your time to see and experience it. Enjoy your time of rest.
