Have you found that spiritual warfare is ramping up! All around the world we see spiritual warfare happening, in our political system, wars, changes happening in the atmosphere; and if we bring it closer to home there are many christians including myself, where we are experiencing spiritual warfare.
What is spiritual warfare? Well Paul explains it best in Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
When we are dealing with difficult situations, people, challenges, we are dealing with principalities and spiritual hosts of wickedness - which is trying to distract us from relying on the Lord and instead, trusting in our own strength. Sometimes the situation can be so difficult and you can feel so powerless that there are times you may focus on the situation rather than giving it to the Lord. Paul goes on to tell us how to deal with such warfare in verse 14-19 “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—”
If you are a frequent reader, then you’ll know that my last blog was almost 3 weeks ago, and that to me is a very long time not to put a post out! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I only write when the Lord puts it on my heart to write and truthfully, I have three topics to write about, but the last few weeks have been a real spiritual battle.
I love writing about what the Lord shows me, because it not only encourages me, I know it encourages you too; and since the enemy knows that the blogs encourages us all - he used my commitments to distract me from doing what the Lord has put on me to do. So while there was nothing wrong with the commitments I had, the enemy used situation after situation to delay and shorten my time with the Lord. This caused me a lot of frustration and angst. Whilst I had days where I would be in fasting and prayer - the enemy would use challenges to try and deter me and throw me off course. I thank God, that I still continued to push through those moments I had, but I became very weary and tired. Jesus asks those in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
My commitments came to an end and I was looking forward to having uninterrupted time with the Lord - focus on his word and getting his blogs out there. The enemy tried one more delay tactic and tried to use my eldest son!
I recall a moment when I came out of the shower - crying to the Lord, asking Him what was it He wanted me to learn in this moment, and what came to me was Abraham, when God put him through a test to see how much faith he had in the Lord. I understood what God was saying, but my response was “Lord, I don’t like seeing my son hurting, and he is hurting! But I will give him to You like Abraham gave you, Isaac.”
Nothing can get past the Almighty, He is Sovereign, omnipresent, the creator of the universe - He is aware of all things that happen in the world. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what trial or test we go through, the point is, God has allowed us to go through it and it is always to show us something, even if we are not doing anything wrong. Look at the story of Job, perfect example of a man who done nothing wrong, Job 1:1 “Job shunned evil, upright, blameless and feared God” yet, the enemy wanted to prove some type of point that Job only served God because of the lifestyle he was blessed with. He had a home, wife, children, health and wealth. To show Satan that Job loved God, He permitted Satan to attack Job of all his livelihood, family and health; throughout the story of Job he does not shun God.
For so many parents out there, the minute you realise your child is hurting, you just want to take the pain away from them; and if I’m honest, it didn’t matter on the amount of praying I did - looking at my son broke me! However, I still pushed through in prayer and fasting, so when the Lord showed me about Abraham, the Lord wanted me to know it was about faith - knowing that my son will be okay - trust in the Lord that my son will be alright.
I had a conversation with someone about all that was going on with my son, and it was during that conversation the Lord showed me, that He loves me, and there is protection over me and my family, so nothing harmful will befall me or my family. The enemy is trying to do all that he can to stop me from being about the Lord’s business. He knew, I would want to spend this time in fasting, prayer and spend time with the Lord. And instead he tried to sabotage it by using my son.
I thank the Lord, that He gave me the strength to keep pushing through with the fast - and the fight to shame the devil. The bible says in Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Therefore, if you are going through any battles, understand and know that the enemy is trying to come between you and what the Lord has for you. Look at what happened with Daniel, when he was in prayer and fasting for 21 days it was because he requested for understanding on what a specific dream meant. Gabriel was coming to tell him that same day, but he was blocked by the enemy and the angel Michael had to come and help out Gabriel, so he can bring word to Daniel (Daniel 10).
Brothers and sisters, we can’t see what is happening in the spirit realm, but what we can know when we are going through it, call upon his Name for strength - the Lord will help us to overcome the lies, and schemes of the enemy. The devil is a liar (John 8:44), his MO is to “steal, kill and destroy”(John 10:10) don’t let him win! His end is drawing nigh and he knows it (Revelation 20:10). Strengthen yourself in the Lord, and stand on the promises of God! For “we are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37), the Lord has made us “the head and not the tail” (Deuteronomy 28:13), we are “co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). “Our strength will renew and we will soar with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31) we are his “chosen people” (1 Peter 2:9) his mercies “are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23), He is “our good shepherd” (John 10:11) that carries us through and we can be sure to lean on Him. Amen x