BIBLE PASSAGE:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
(Ephesians 6:12)
MEDITATION:
Have you ever been in a wrestling match? If you have, then
you know how quickly everything can change. You think you
have the upper hand over your opponent and without warning
he makes a move that forces you to switch from offense to defense.
Everything may have seemed to be going your way and you were
confident of victory, but suddenly you were in a position of trying
not to lose.
Life can be like that, can’t it? Everything seems to be in order but
then you get blind-sided with something that changes your orderly
lifestyle to a life of chaos. Your life-changing event can come in many
forms. It could be a loss of your job, a bad report from the doctor, the
loss of a loved one, a wayward child, a new assignment at work with
an unreasonable deadline, loss of everything in a fire, etc.
Whatever the cause, it can feel like a wrestling match as you try to
recover. You can experience many emotions in your attempts to cope
with what has happened, and as you try to restore order in your life.
Somedays are good and some days are bad, but the journey can be
tiresome and uncertain.
The scriptures tell us that we also have a great struggle as we wrestle
with challenges in the spiritual realm. We may be going through life
with a ‘spiritual high’ as we appreciate how God has blessed us, and
suddenly, out of the blue, we are blind-sided with the forces of evil.
The forces of evil are around us every day and they are real! Whenever
our ‘spiritual foot’ slips the least little bit, the evil forces launch an attack
on us. If it weren’t true, the scriptures wouldn’t warn us about the dangers
of their presence. Look at the magnitude of their presence…we wrestle
against the following:
“principalities”
“powers”
“rulers of the darkness of this world”
“spiritual wickedness in high places”
Sounds like a powerful opponent, doesn’t it? That’s because it is!
Have you ever been at a place in your life where you had thoughts
of dabbling with something you know is wrong? You may even say
to yourself,
“I just want to prove to myself how well I can resist temptations”.
However, you soon realize that something has a grip on you and
your ‘dabbling’ has changed to a desire. And before long you
realize just how quickly your desire has taken control of your life.
Well, it is more than just your desire, it is the forces of evil that
you have allowed into your life.
Some Christians have a tendency to play with evil, keeping it nearby
for amusement, and even making excuses for its presence. Some may
say,
“Well, I can’t escape evil since it’s all around me!
So the best I can do is try to manage it appropriately.”
What a deception that is.
Paul makes it clear that we cannot manage wickedness.
For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do
not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what
I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is
sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work:
Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see
another law at work in me, waging war against the law
of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin
at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will
rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks
be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in
my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
(Romans 7:19-25)
In a wrestling match, as long as you never give your opponent an
opening to reverse the match, you can continue with your offensive
strategy and remain confident of a victory. However, as soon as you
expose a weakness, your opponent can seize the opportunity and
change your confident victory into a devastating defeat. It is the
same way in the spiritual world, isn’t it? When our weakness is
exposed, evilness seizes the opportunity to invade our lives.
This is why I believe the Lord gave us His Holy Spirit to be our ally
and assist us in defeating our opponent. Whenever we get the idea
that we can defeat the forces of evil in our own strength, our attitude
of independence is exposing our weaknesses to our spiritual opponent.
In fact, our independence may be the very weakness that provides the
‘rulers of darkness’ with a point of attack. Independence can be the
by-product of an inflated ego or arrogant pride (God hates this kind of
pride and anything that God hates should not be a part of our lives).
God wants our dependence and not our independence. But the world
wants to convince us to believe that independence is a characteristic
we should be pursuing. Why? Because independence in the eyes of the
world desired is an indication that we are strong individuals. However,
God, desires humility in the lives of those who belong to Him (humility
is not a weakness, but it can be best described as a gentle strength).
A strong person in God’s sight is one who exhibits self-control (which
requires a lot of strength), humility (which requires restraint) and
dependence (which means we realize we need God to help us fight our
spiritual battles).
There is a constant struggle in the lives of everyone. Physicians
will confirm that there is a struggle for supremacy in our own
bodies. Our white blood cells are in a constant war with diseases
which are trying to invade our bodies. They fight harmful bacteria,
viruses and fungi in an effort to keep us healthy.
The white blood cells (WBC) are the defense mechanism of the
human body for fighting infections. If there was not a war going
on in our bodies, then we would not need a defense system. The
same is true in the spiritual realm – if there wasn’t a war, then
we wouldn’t need a defense. But the scriptures tell us that there
IS a war.
ACTION:
How are you handling this war? Are you fighting the battle in
your own strength? If so, then be prepared for a devastating
defeat. Are you relying on the Holy Spirit to be your WBC for
fighting evilness?
It is a good idea to ask for and depend on the Holy Spirit to help
you fight your battles, but it might be an even better idea to ask
the Holy Spirit to fight the battle for you. He is better equipped,
He can protect your weak areas, and He knows where the battles
must be won.
That doesn’t mean we sit on the sidelines and do nothing; it means
that we have chosen to be dependent (which pleases God) and not
independent. Our part in the battle is to pray, to read God’s Word,
to worship Him (alone and with other believers), and to resist the
‘spiritual wickedness’ in the early stages of temptation.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I realize the battles I face in the
spiritual realm are real and I cannot resist them in
my own strength. Thank You for Your gift of the Holy
Spirit (my friend and ally) who helps me with my the
struggles in my life. The spiritual opponents want to
destroy my life, but Your desire is for me to live. Thank
You for Your care and concern for me. Without You I
am nothing, but with You I am everything. Thank You
for being my loving Heavenly Father.”
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