In the eye of the storn

We live in a real and material world, where we face our everyday battles and struggles: bills to pay, relationships, work, etc. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t. Frustration arises and we realize we are not in control of what others do or think. We start to focus on who is responsible for things not going well, we even blame ourselves, but we rarely find the true culprit.
In fact, the Bible says that there is much more to our world, a spiritual dimension where Christians are constantly under attack. The enemy knows he cannot take our salvation away, so he tries to steal the joy in our job, the harmony with our partner, the peace in our decisions (sounds like him, right? The one who comes to “steal, kill and destroy”!). Recently I have been reading for the second time the book “Fervent”, by Prishilla Shirer, looking for suggestions and action plans against the manipulations of Satan. Lately, in fact, I have experienced a lot of spiritual attacks, when everything goes in the wrong way and you know it cannot be only a coincidence. So I started looking for the enemy’s fingerprints.

Condemnation always leads to guilt-laden discouragement, while conviction- though often painful in pointing out our wrongdoing- still somehow encourages and lifts up, giving us hope to rebuild on. The first makes you focus on yourself; the other points you to the grace and empowering mercy of Christ.

The key here is to realize who the real enemy is. People are not the problem. Satan wants us to focus on things that are physical and visible instead of where the action really is. The Bible says “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes 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.” (Eph. 6:11- 12).
There is someone behind the curtain who is plotting against us. Did you notice the word in verse 11? “The Devil’s schemes”. They are strategies and deceptive plots organized in a diligent and intentional way. Until we don’t realize that, we will continue fighting the wrong battle. That is exactly what I was doing. I was upset with my husband, with myself, with the circumstances that made us argue more than usual, with tensions that normally would not exist between us. Then I stopped and I saw the big picture. Some weeks prior, we had chosen to host an international student at our house. We felt real clear from the Lord to do this, even if our place is pretty small and it means to have less time for each other. We knew that it was meant to be a transformational time for him (and for us!), an occasion to know who God is and experience His love in a Christian family. As it often happens, whenever you align yourself with God’s will, the enemy will look for ways to distract you and convince you to give up. That’s where my husband and I realized that we were not each other’s limit, but that we were partners in spreading the Gospel, so we needed to collaborate and find unity in fighting our common enemy. We stopped and used our amazing weapon: prayer!  In fact, as we realize that it is not an earthly war, we are ready to use the right weapons to be effective.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:4-5).

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people (Eph. 6: 13-18).

God is in control, no matter neither what the circumstances say, nor what Satan is whispering to your ear. In the middle of the storm, he is our salvation, because the One who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. He has prepared us to fight the good fight and he has enabled us to do it with the right tools!