Fight the Right Enemy

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

            Do you ever wonder why we don’t seem to catch a break? We’re going through a rough season of life but then it’s finally resolved. Sometimes it seems that we barely have time to breath a sigh of relief before the next struggle hits. We feel as if we’re constantly struggling with something. It may be a relationship that isn’t going the way we would like. Or a battle with a physical problem. Or maybe it’s financial. Those ends just never do seem to meet. Perhaps it’s an emotional struggle with things like depression or grief. When we stop to think of all the struggles that come our way, the list itself can be very overwhelming.

            That’s when it helps me to realize that it’s really just one battle. We have only one enemy. It’s just that the enemy will hit us from every single angle he possibly can. And he has no compassion. When we’re down for the count from a physical battle, he’ll hit us with something financial. Or we’re struggling with depression when a relationship in our life goes awry. Notice that this verse says the battle is being fought both in this world and in the heavenly world. Because our brains are finite and tied to this earth, we don’t always realize that this is a huge battle. It’s being fought by us, but also in the heavens. That means that Satan and his minions are always fighting a war on two fronts. If we can just hold him off by resisting him, reinforcements will arrive to attack on the other front, the heavenly one.

            Too often, when I’m going through a difficult time, I have the wrong focus. I think the enemy is that person, or that pain, or that situation. I’m not saying we don’t need to do something about those things, but they’re not the enemy. The real enemy is one we can’t see or feel. It’s also one who has already been defeated! So why is he still fighting? I don’t think it’s about him trying to win the war. I think it’s because he knows that hell has been prepared for him and he wants to take as many of us with him as he can. The battle now is all about trying to take our focus off of Jesus. If he can get us to focus on our situation and think that it’s the real problem, he’s succeeded in drawing us away from God. Regardless of what your struggle is right now, remember that it’s not your enemy. The real struggle is with the real enemy. And the best way to fight him is to keep your eyes firmly on the One Who is fighting the same enemy on your behalf – and winning!