When the Fight Calls: Spiritual Warfare

This article almost didn’t happen. 

BCNE Staff frequently submit articles for our blog, and as my deadline approached for the month, I felt the Lord wanted me to write about spiritual warfare. Every time I sat down to write, I had writer’s block. I knew exactly what I wanted to say but had the hardest time getting down the ideas swirling around in my head. I kept getting discouraged and considering other topics, opening up new empty documents to try and write something else. 

And then it dawned on me. Could it be that the enemy doesn’t want me to write this and remember and reflect on my victory in Christ?

In its simplest form, this is spiritual warfare. Any time God’s people are on mission, working to bring Him glory and advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through their actions, work, conversations, relationships, and whatever they do, the enemy will be working against them. 

“Any time God’s people are on mission, working to bring Him glory and advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through their actions, work, conversations, relationships, and whatever they do, the enemy will be working against them.” 

That argument you and your spouse had on the way to church. Finding out about a death in your family hours before a retreat you’re leading. Returning from a retreat to find your basement flooded. Nightmares that wake you up in the night. Spiritual warfare can take many different forms. 

This article not being written is easily a sillier form of spiritual warfare. Still, it reminds me that we, as followers of Jesus, are in a war. 

Paul, in Ephesians 6:1, writes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Peter gives a vivid warning to “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Whether you’re aware of it or not [pastor, youth leader, mom, dad, student…fill in the blank], you’ve got a target on your back. 

I’m not suggesting there’s a devil behind every door or that spiritual warfare is the cause of every struggle you face. Consequences and fallout from our own sinful choices are not spiritual warfare. However, if you have been pursuing Christ and advancing His mission and are being spiritually attacked, remember who you’re fighting against. Even more than that, remember who has your back.

Fighting from victory, not for victory

Here are just a couple of verses to encourage you in the fight. Deuteronomy 20:1‭-‬4 says:

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”

In Colossians 2:13-15, Paul writes:
”And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

The same God who fought for the Israelites against their enemies in battle is the same God who conquered our enemies of death, sin, and Satan by his death and resurrection! If you are in Christ, you are not fighting for victory but from a place of victory, knowing the end is already won! 

Friend, I want to encourage you today if you’ve been frustrated and worn down from the fight. The victory belongs to Christ. And he is with you right now in the battle. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4)!

More than just encouragement, God has given us spiritual weapons to fight the forces of darkness when they attack. Stay tuned for the next article as we talk practically about wielding the weapons of prayer, fasting, and worship in our fight.

Renée Ghobrial serves as the communications director of the Baptist Churches of New England.