Outflanking the Enemy

 

	“Endure hardship like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
	—2 Timothy 2:3

Most Christians don’t often consider the spiritual battle waged against them. Yes, they would say that Satan exists and prompts evil in the world. But, when it comes to understanding the ceaseless battle he wages against their lives, they usually don’t see it.

Here’s how Joni Eareckson Tada explains it:

The King’s most trusted officer turns renegade and gathers a powerful army around him to lead a rebellion. Through treachery and deceit, the rebel leader usurps the authority of the King and sets up his own rival government, enslaving the citizens of the kingdom. In order to free the captives, the King sends His own Son into the heart of enemy territory with a battle plan more shocking than anyone could imagine. ¹

Not only does the “rebel leader”—Satan—want to tempt us to sin, he also works hard to defeat us in our Christian walk and in our work on behalf of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Satan endeavors to discourage us and tempt us to turn back. He generally does everything he can to disrupt our lives in any way that he can. When we pray in Jesus’ name against the weapons Satan uses, we can successfully upset his battle plan—we can outflank his attack on us.

Jesus took on this enemy at the cross. As Colossians 2:15 tells us:

“…having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

And with the overcoming power that Jesus gives to us, we can fight against the war that Satan will continue to instigate until Jesus comes back.

God has not left us alone to live defeated lives. Instead, He has armed His people with the weapons we need: prayer and His Word. Here’s how 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 puts it:

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

When we pray in Jesus’ name, we join with Him in defeating the powers and authorities of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil. He already disarmed them on the cross. But, when we pray, we appropriate that power into our own lives.

When we see evil around us and feel it coming at us from every side, we have Christ and His power as our strong defense. He gives us the opportunity to outflank the enemy and win the skirmishes. And one day, our Captain—Christ Jesus—will return to end the battle completely.

Praise His name!

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1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Diamonds in the Dust. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing Company, 2010. Devotional for April 9th.