This week, I started taking classes at a Krav Maga gym. Krav Maga is a military self-defense and fighting system developed and used in the Israeli defense forces. One of the characteristics of the fighting style is being loud while attacking; yelling with each punch or kick. Sometimes when you’re focused on the technical aspects, it’s easy to forget to yell. Our instructors remind us when we get too quiet: “Be LOUD. Your attacker thinks you’re an easy target. They won’t expect you to fight like this, and they definitely won’t expect you to be screaming in their face the whole time you’re doing it. Your voice is a weapon, use it!“
I can’t help but think about how this relates to the spiritual warfare that we engage in daily. Satan sees us as easy targets, he “prowls around us like a lion, seeking those who he may destroy” (1 Peter 5:8). So many times I find myself fighting against his lies and deception with my own physical strength, punching and kicking away. But our battle is “not against flesh and blood, but against powers and rulers of the darkness in the heavenly realm” (Ephesians 6:12). And we have a great weapon to use against the forces that can’t be physically fought away, our VOICE!
How often have I exhausted myself trying to hit back, deliver the blows in my own strength, only to be pushed back and held down because I gave up? Fighting is exhausting. People can only last several minutes fighting with each other before the body gives up because our muscles fail. That’s why when we are fighting, we have to use EVERY weapon in our arsenal. Satan doesn’t expect us to fight so hard, and he CANNOT beat us when we are screaming the truth of Jesus at him! Our tongue is “a small thing that makes grand speeches, a little spark can start a forest fire. Among all parts of the body, the tongue is a flame” (James 3:5-6). While this verse is really a precaution about guarding our tongue, I love the visual that the tongue is a flame.
I don’t know what lies you’re facing in this season, but I know we are all facing some. So whatever you’re facing, scream these truths in the face of the devil:
- I have a wall of fire around me (Zechariah 2:5)
- I will be rescued and sustained (Isaiah 45:2)
- My burdens will be lifted (Psalms 69:19)
- I will be satisfied (Jeremiah 31:14)
- I will receive what God has promised (Hebrews 6:15)
- I will be restored, confirmed, strengthened, and established (1 Peter 5:10)
- I am protected (Psalms 91:14)
- I will not be overwhelmed (1 Corinthians 10:13)
- I am comforted (Isaiah 49:13)
- I am not alone (Hebrews 13:5)
- My pain has a purpose (Isaiah 66:9)
- I am loved (Psalms 136:1)
Your voice is a weapon, USE IT!
