We’re All At War

I am at war.

When that woman at church tells me she meditates in front of a Buddha figurine, I am at war.

When that sailing instructor tells me I am no different from an ape, I am at war.

There is a battle going on all around me.

I cannot deny it is there. Above me, below me, behind me, and before me, I can see it.

That waitress taking my order with tears streaming down her face is fighting a battle.

That twelve-year-old sucking his thumb as his grandfather verbally abuses him is fighting a battle.

I have no power to save these people, but God does. God wants to use me to shine his power to these hurting people. He is fighting the war with me.

I can’t save my crying waitress from the pain of breast cancer.

I can’t save the man on the side of the road from his addiction to drugs.

I can’t save the young boy from the abuse of a bad man.

Jesus Christ is the healer. Jesus Christ is the antidote.

Without Jesus, I can’t fight the brick of fear stuck in my throat. Jesus is the one who makes my throat clear and my tongue speak truth into the Buddhist woman.

Without Jesus, I can’t fight the wobble in my legs. Jesus is the one who makes me stand strong and hold my head high as the lost man shoots daggers with his eyes.

Without Jesus, I can’t fight the anger rising up in my chest. Jesus is the one who makes me calmly and lovingly tell my sailing instructors they are mistaken.

Your crusade, like mine, isn’t on a castle wall shooting arrows at the enemy below. It is probably not in the trenches of the jungle, or in mountains above. Your crusade may be similar to mine. It might be in school, in sports, work, or at home, but it is a battle all the same.

It might not be heroic, it might not be valiant, but it’s real. What’s more, we don’t have to do it alone.

As humans, we are in a fight, but we have a choice to make. Are we with Christ or are we with Satan?

God’s Word says in Luke 11:23, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Jesus Christ went before us. He already fought the battle. He defeated the devil for us and now he will help us defeat the devil too.

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” -Colossians 1:13-14

As Christians, we have to engage in the combat, but I must warn you: Satan is not always easy to spot, but God can open our eyes.

It is not easy to fight the enemy. Sometimes it feels like a shot in the dark, but the Word does not go out void. Satan can outnumber us. We can be surrounded, but God will forever be King.

God will forever scatter our enemies.

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” – Deuteronomy 20: 1-4