Battle

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 

but against principalities, against powers, 

against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 

against spiritual wickedness in high places." 

- Ephesians 6:12

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Thursday morning I woke with such a heaviness in my spirit, sadness in my bones, and I felt it deep down into the very core of me. I struggled to get out of bed, and right away I recognized that this was not a cloud of sickness or simple fatigue, but a fight with Satan, who was working hard to keep me down. 

There have only been a few times in my life when I have so obviously felt the cold oppression of the devil. There have been times when I've encounter someone, heard something, or seen something, but never before had I felt such an attack on my heart and physical self. But that's what it was, and I knew it, and even more so, I knew I needed to fight it. 

Brothers and sisters, our wars are not against flesh and blood, but against the ruler of darkness, and we must be diligent to see it, identify it, and fight. 

Fight with everything we have. 

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Andrew has had a really hard week in ministry, and because I see the pain, struggle and hurt up close and first hand, I've had a hard week too. 

Ministry is not for the faint of heart. 

Wednesday night, we had a particularly hard encounter, and after a restless night for both of us, Satan knew I was weak, knew I was vulnerable, and knew I'd be easy prey for his schemes. It makes me mad to no end knowing that Satan is out there, fighting against me, against my God, against all that is good and holy. It makes me mad that we toil so hard, and all the while, satan is working against us, making each step forward harder and harder to take. But stepping forward is not an option, and no matter the opposition we face, we know that God is with us, and we know He requires our dedication no matter how hard it gets. 

That's why identifying our troubles as spiritual warfare is so important: it gives us courage to keep going! 

When we see and understand that our troubles are really spiritual warfare, we come face to face with why we were created: to bring glory and honor God, and we will desire to keep toiling, knowing that we are working for Him and for His glory. 

Satan cannot beat us down, he doesn't have that much power, and do you know why, dear Christian?

BECAUSE OUR GOOD GOD HAS ALREADY WON THE BATTLE! 

OUR GOD HAS ALREADY WON THE VICTORY!

And no fallen angel is going to take that victory away from us. He's not that strong. 

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So I fought. 

I got up, I told Andrew what was going on, and we prayed. 

I called my cousin, talked with her, and asked her to pray too. 

I covered myself with scripture, surrounded myself with edifying people, and prayed some more. 

Some days all we can do in this battle is utter one more prayer, but that is enough, it will always be enough.