How many battles have you fought? Does it feel as though you are fighting a different battle every single day? Who are you fighting? What are you fighting? Do you know? Is it a constant battle against “them”? What if you could know who “them” is?
Life can be a series of battles. We may sometimes call them uphill battles. It may seem as though just when you think things are heading in the right direction another roadblock or speedbump is put in your way. You may think that they are put there on purpose. They are.
You may be saying, “Wait a minute! Really? How do you know that?” There is evil all around us doing everything it can do to trip us up and set us up for failure. Don’t believe that? Take a look at today’s passage. The Apostle Paul certainly believed it. It is the evil in this world that seeks to be our downfall.
We are not fighting against other people. We are fighting against evil. It is the evil that has taken over the person we are fighting. When someone is selfish, chalk it up to evil. When someone is quibbling over not getting their way, chalk it up to evil. When someone is harsh, angry, and fuming, chalk it up to evil. When someone hurts, maims, injures, or kills someone, chalk it up to evil.
It is the evil that works in the shadows of people’s hearts that causes the person to be that way. Rather than returning anger for anger, we should pray that God remove the evil from their heart. That battle is being fought in the spiritual realm. True, we are on the front lines and may be injured from the fallout. But we are not fighting against another person. We are fighting against evil, and we need God to intervene for we are not strong enough to combat evil on our own. Prayer is the only way we overcome evil.
I pray we all understand we are fighting against evil. I pray we do not retaliate in like fashion. I pray each one of us will go to God in prayer, asking him to intervene on our behalf. Fight on your knees. Ask God to intervene. Overcome evil through God.
Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Marty Pressey 