Stand Your Ground

Have you felt it lately? A degree of difficulty that seems too loaded to chalk up to coincidence? Me too. You’re not crazy. It’s real. Not that we haven’t suffered before, but the current batch carries a different character and quality. What’s going on here?

Please remember that you live in a spiritual battle zone. You have an enemy constantly lurking and looking for opportunities to injure or take you out of the fight completely. The Bible says that “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. 6:12). It also tells us that our “enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). The spiritual realm is real. Evil forces are real and at war with God. And you live right in the thick of the battlefield. In fact, you are the battlefield.

What’s a believer to do? Stand your ground.

After the reminder that the devil wants to devour, 1 Peter 5:9-10 says to “resist him, standing firm in the faith” and know that God will “make you strong, firm and steadfast.” Right beside the warnings about forces of evil, Ephesians 6:10-18 says to “take your stand against the devil’s schemes,” to “stand your ground,” and to “stand firm.” It goes on to describe all the resources available to you: strength in the Lord, His mighty power, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the readiness of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Not to mention that you can “pray in the Spirit on all occasions.”

Stand your ground…Are you seeing how this is a defensive posture? Why? Because Jesus reigns victorious already! The war is won! He “disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col. 2:15). The picture painted here portrays a warrior king returning home, in procession through the city streets, with prisoners of war in tow behind him. That’s your King Jesus!

The devil and his spiritual forces of evil have lost. A final expulsion into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10) awaits them. Until that day comes, stand strong against the skirmishes launched by your defeated foes. Those skirmishes are real. They make our lives difficult, and we suffer. But we know the end of the story, and we have our marching orders. Pray in the Spirit constantly, and…stand your ground.