“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
- Ephesians 6:12
I’ve learned something about battles.
Most of them don’t look like battles.
Take the cat next door.
He sits behind the fence every morning staring at me like he owns the place.
I bark.
He twitches his tail.
I bark louder.
My human says, “Ignore him.”
Easy for him to say.
He apparently doesn’t understand the seriousness of the cat situation.
But the other morning, I realized my human was fighting something different.
He was sitting in his chair, coffee beside him, Bible open, staring off into nowhere.
I walked over and put my head on his knee.
“Buddy, some battles aren’t fought with our fists.”
He continued, “Some are fought right here,” tapping his head, “and right here,” pointing toward his heart.
Apparently, there’s a war going on around us that neither one of us can see.
Fear.
Temptation.
Anger.
Pride.
Discouragement.
Doubt.
And that old enemy whispering lies into our ears, hoping we’ll believe them:
“You’re not good enough.”
“God has forgotten you.”
“You’ll never change.”
“Hold that grudge.”
“Just this once.”
“Stay angry.”
“Give up.”
I watched my human sit quietly for a while.
Then he said, “Sometimes we spend so much time fighting people that we forget who the real enemy is.”
That got my attention.
Because Paul says our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood.
Meaning the person who irritated you today probably isn’t the real enemy.
Neither is the coworker who got under your skin.
Or the family member who disappointed you.
Or even the stranger who disagrees with you.
There’s a spiritual battle happening around us every day, and the enemy would love nothing more than to keep us angry at each other while he quietly works on our hearts.
He wants bitterness where Jesus wants forgiveness.
Fear where Jesus offers peace.
Division where Jesus calls for unity.
Temptation where Jesus calls for obedience.
Despair where Jesus gives hope.
That’s why my human kept reading.
Paul said to put on the full armor of God.
Truth.
Righteousness.
The Gospel of Peace.
Faith.
Salvation.
The Word of God.
And Prayer.
Apparently you don’t walk onto a battlefield wearing bedroom slippers.
Spiritually speaking, though, I think a lot of humans do.
They start their day checking messages, headlines, schedules, problems and everything else before checking in with the One who already knows what battles are coming.
Maybe that’s the lesson.
We don’t have to be afraid of the spiritual war around us.
But we’d better recognize that it’s real.
Stay close to Jesus.
Stay in His Word.
Pray.
Forgive quickly.
Guard your heart.
And remember who the enemy really is.
Because spiritual warfare may be invisible…
…but that cat is definitely real.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
