Before DTS I didn’t really have an opinion on spiritual warfare.

Did I believe it existed?

Yea, maybe. Maybe not. I Just didn’t really know. It sounded creepy. Like maybe some far away creepy creatures fighting over your soul. It didn’t make much sense to me and I didn’t really like to think about it too much.

In DTS they explained it this way…

The little things in our everyday life, are a form of spiritual warfare. Like a bad attitude, gossiping, or discontentment. To name just a few.

For me this was eyeopening. The enemy waits and watches for the best opportunities. He knows our weaknesses. He knows which buttons to press. We, however, have Jesus on our side so we still have the upper hand.

Recognizing spiritual warfare for what it is gives us a head start 🙂 Realizing that bad attitude isn’t  just: “I’m tired because I had a really long day and just can’t deal with anything else!” Rather it is the enemy fighting for our souls!! Think about it. If we give in to thoughts like this once, its so much easier to think like this the next time. Soon it becomes a habit. He starts small and slowly gains ground if we let him.

I’ve discovered that raising children is a spiritual battlefield. Why wouldn’t it be? If he can distract us from spending time with our children, or get us to yell at them, hurt them or anything that keeps us from being a Christlike example to them he will do it.

Why?

Because if we have children he isn’t just after one soul but however many souls are in our care. He knows if we are raising them to live for Christ his fight will be impossible. So if he can stop us, their parents, from praying for them, taking them to church or raising them lovingly, then he has a fair chance.

After DTS sometimes it felt like we just couldn’t get ahead. For every step forward we seemed to take two steps back. Everything just felt hard. We had quite a few unexpected bills. We went through the process of finding a new church. It really wasn’t one big thing but rather many small things happening all at once. Many of our conversations were along the line of: “What should we do different?” or  ” Are we not where God wants us?” Every answer we found left us with a dozen more questions.

Then…

Someone shared a video on Facebook.

Yes. I said Facebook.

Of all places, imagine that! Maybe Facebook has some good in it after all 🙂

It was just a short three minute video but it had a powerful message. A message on spiritual warfare. The one line that caught our attention the most was…

The greatest spiritual battles come right after our greatest spiritual victories.

WHAT?!

YES! It all made sense. DTS to us was a huge spiritual accomplishment. We didn’t just learn facts about God, we found a deeper intimacy with him.  We found a confidence, a freedom in Christ that we hadn’t  experienced before.

Yes. This. This was spiritual warfare. Everything that went wrong? Everything that was complicated? Theres no doubt… The enemy was at work. He doesn’t care much about us as long as we are getting it wrong. But, if we get it right? Then he cares! And he will do everything in his power to make us doubt that we know what we are doing. Let me just say again though. With Jesus on our side we will still win these battles!

After I wrote Focus on God not Your Shortcomings, things went down hill fast. At the end of every single day I felt like I failed with Kenzie. It seemed no matter how much I tried, or how much I prayed. I just could not get ahead. Then God reminded me of this thing called spiritual warfare…

Not only had I learned a few things personally but I had dared post them publicly where they might help someone else. No, wonder the enemy went on the defense, because again we aren’t just talking about me, but God could use that post to touch the life of any person that read it. This obviously does not sit well with the enemy of our souls.

Funny thing is though. Every single time we recognized something as spiritual warfare. The intenseness of the battle stopped. I’m not sure if the enemy then gives up? Or if God then puts a stop to it? Let me know if you have an answer to that one. 🙂

The truth sets people free, therefore the enemy hates truth. So I have learned that if I sit down and right a random post about nothing in particular. He lets me go, because he really doesn’t care, but if I right a post that contains truth, if its a post that God can use touch even just one persons life…

Then. Then he cares!

So, if you are truly seeking after God but it seems as if you keep hitting brick walls or if your decision felt so right in the beginning but now seems all wrong…

Think about it…

Is it the enemy raging war against your soul?