The War Within

“And he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground with them.’ And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times’ (2 Kings 13:18-19).”

When I read the Old Testament, I am struck by how much of it is about the constant wars Israel fought, especially against Syria. They would gain ground and push Syria back, but no matter how long they raged against Syria, Israel never quite had complete victory. It reminded me of how each of us also struggle against our own enemies like addictions to drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex, or gambling. We battle in our own lives to have victory over the problems that plague us, and while we gain ground, we can’t seem to push through to the very end where we can walk away from those enemies and never look back. We might go to meetings, or to church, and we might say all the right things when others are around, but when we are alone, there’s that nagging feeling we aren’t really where we say we are. Like Joash in the verse above, we strike a few times and then we quit, when instead, we should listen to the Elisha’s in our lives and keep on hitting back as many times as it takes to overcome. True victory takes a lion’s effort and even if it’s a lifetime of striking back against our enemies, we have to find the strength to keep at it or whatever our personal demons are, will defeat us.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind (James 1:5-6).”

Part of the problem when fighting our own demons is that we try to do it on our own power. We might go to others for advice but those who attend the same meetings we do are probably in the same boat and have their own demons to vanquish. We are like boats with no anchors being tossed about on the sea without direction. It is only our faith in God that anchors us and gives us wisdom. The world wants us to remain at sea, going down for the third time, however, our victory is not found in the world but in Jesus Christ alone.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 1:4-5).”

Read Jeremiah 21-29

 © 2018 Marie McGaha