Our Battle-Ready Warrior

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
~Ephesians 6:12

I spoke on this verse on 60 Second Scripture on YouTube this morning, and I just wanted to continue it because 60 seconds doesn't give me enough time to really say everything that needs to be said about this verse.

As Christians, our battle belongs to the Lord (1 Samuel 14:47). And the way that we help Him fight that battle is in prayer, worship, and praise.

We see protesters running around the streets like crazy people, and we see protesters forming lines, standing in front of oncoming traffic. I am reminded of the story of Don Quixote, who had his head in the clouds, and his ideas of what was going on was really fantasy that overcame the rational mind. Humans get like that sometimes. The idea of what they want, or how they perceive life should be, overcomes the reality of how life is. That's not to say that things don't need to change, or that we cannot change the problems in this world, but there are ways to do it and there are ways not to do it; and then there are ways that just make you look like a crazy person standing out in traffic.

At present, there are a lot of crazy people standing out in traffic. We see it all over social media, we see it on the news, and we see it online. We make jokes about it because people are really good at laughing at others, and some of it is so farcical that there's nothing you can do except laugh. The problem is, laughing  and making jokes doesn't help anything.

We are currently in a fierce spiritual battle. I see it every single day and it includes all of the things that are going on worldwide. We have a war that has been going on for 16 years, we have storms spinning out of control and wreaking havoc everywhere, we have fires burning out of control, and to top it off the crime rate is through the roof. And it seems that police are stretched to their limits, and aren't allowed to enforce laws without being accused of bigotry and racism. People can no longer speak freely about right and wrong, or mention God without being labeled a racist, or a hater. Common sense has gone straight out the window and lunacy prevails.

It can be easy to get caught up in physical battles against the things that we see going on around us. Those things affect our lives, they affect our loved ones, they affect our finances, and they surely affect our sanity. But as Christians, our battle is not against the people that we see doing these things, and it's not against the police, it's not against the law makers, it's not against Congress, and it's certainly not against the president. The battle that we are fighting is against spiritual darkness.

Jesus Christ has the victory won already. Jesus Christ defeated those principalities when he died on the Cross and rose from the dead.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place (2 Corinthians 2:14)."

Christians were never meant to be part of the physical battle going on around us. We have always been meant to join with Jesus Christ and battle with Him.

'O give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain. Through God we shall do valiantly, And it is He who will tread down our adversaries (Psalm 60:11-12)."

We are told in Ephesians 6:10-18 how we are to prepare for battle. We are told to put on the "belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

We are to rely solely on Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word and that Word is Jesus Christ (John 1:1). He was and is, and is to come (Revelation 1:8). So the next time you're facing battle, pick up your sword, the Word of God, get on your knees and let the Lord battle for you because in Him is certain victory.