I’m not a fan of war. I have nothing but respect for the men and women who have dedicated their live in defense of home and country, but I’m not a fan of war. I know that in the past God sent the Israelites to war and I doubt it was pretty, but I’m still not a fan of the killing. I don’t like seeing disabled and disfigured victims of war, or children wandering bombed-out streets looking for a safe place to sleep, or rows and rows of flag-draped coffins. These things disturb me on a fundamental level, and so I try hard not to think of war. I know, in my head, that there are wars, big and small, affecting nearly every corner of creation, but I have tried to keep these facts from affecting me. I’m not a coward, I’m not a pacifist, I accept that war is an unavoidable symptom of a world desperate for the peace that only God can bring, but whenever I think about the orphans and widows war creates, the scars it makes on landscapes and bodies and minds, something inside me says, “No. Don’t deal with that.” I want to become a man, capable of defending my God and the people in my life with whatever means necessary, but I don’t want to be a soldier. I’ll be a fighter, a scrapper, a man who doesn’t take life lying down, but I cannot bring myself to be part of the horrible monster that is war. So I try not to think about war.
So when someone starts talking about spiritual war, I file it under “War” and downplay the situation. I’ll let the angels and demons fight it out with big nifty flaming swords and it if’s all just fine and dandy with you I’ll be over in the corner here singing hymns. I have somehow managed, all my life, to completely dissociate spiritual war with any form of conflict. Maybe it’s because my life has been incredibly blessed, but I have never been forced to confront the simple fact that spiritual war is an integral part of the Christian life. Over the last month, I’ve had my eyes opened.
I went to training camp in October and I met some of the most amazing, God-filled people I have ever known – my V squad family. I have seen how God has called us to His mission here on the Race and I have seen the incredible changes wrought in all of our lives as we prepare to dedicate the next year to His service. Since returning we have stayed in contact, and among the incredible blessings we have encountered there has also been unbelievable hardships. Life is never fair, and even the most devoted servant of God will just have some bad days at times, but the level of assault we have experienced has been stunning. I’m not just talking about the actual experiences, either – I’m talking about how the tragedies in our lives have come at such a distracting time, how things that shouldn’t bother us normally have been blown out of proportion. We have been beset fiercely with temptation, we have had financial worry and spiritual isolation assail our faith. We have endured or been affected by pain and sickness and injury and even death and it is so very hard to stay focused on God’s calling. The opportunity for doubt has been insistent and pervasive in the assault we have endured. We have seen finances fall through, relationships with friends and family disintegrate, misfortune and tragedy invade our lives at a terrifying rate, and I have finally realized that I am seeing the effects of spiritual war.
What’s more, I can’t ignore it any more. These are not people separated from me by the comforting insulation of a camera lens or the distance of continents. These are people who are near and dear to me, who have blessed my life and will bless others’ as well. I have seen the scars inflicted by spiritual warfare on God’s chosen people and I am NOT okay with that.
Satan has hurt my brothers and sisters and I am furious. I am done sitting back and trying to ignore my call to participate in this war. God has given me ARMOR not leisure attire, WEAPONS not watercolors, and I am not called to stuff my hands in my pockets while the world thumbs its nose at God, but to take up weapons of divine power and demolish strongholds, arguments, and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
It’s time to take the fight to the enemy. Take note, all you powers of this dark world. Tremble in fear, spiritual forces of evil. You have dared assault the emissaries of the Living God and we are not content to cower in our bunkers any longer. We march forth as the vanguard of a mighty angel army, the host of Heaven, and we will not lay down our arms until the Kingdom of God has come to Earth and flooded this whole world with His light.
