A post about warfare is probably not what you want to read about at the start of the year seeing as we are all still buying 2021 year planners, and the ink has barely dried on our freshly designed vision boards/10 year plans 🙂 But I sense very strongly within me that for us to get any value or blessing out of 2021, we’re going to have to fight for it.
That beautiful vision board will remain a multicolour mind-map if we’re not ready to hunker down in the trenches and get our fingers dirty. Between you and the restoration God promised is an enemy who is not moved by your tears or fire emojis.
So how can we overcome our relentless adversary in 2021? The Bible offers us tried and tested strategies to defeating the enemy in James 4:7;
“Submit yourselves…to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Strategy #1: Submit to God
Submitting every aspect of your life to God displaces the devil’s authority over you. Submitting to God’s rulership makes the devil’s occupation of any area of your life illegal because you cannot serve two masters – one has to give way to the other. The good thing here is that, YOU get to choose who rules.
Let’s get practical. What does submitting to God look like?
It means passing every of your decision/desires/choice through the filter of God’s word. It means exalting pleasing God above your personal desires, however ‘valid’ they may seem to you. It means letting go of people/things/places that influence you contrary to God’s will.
Submitting to God’s authority may mean biting your tongue instead of responding in anger and trusting that He will fight for you.
Strategy #2: Resist the Devil
As you learn to displace the devil’s legal authority over you, you’ll also need to actively resist the devil and his schemes. Think of the devil as a raging despot who cannot fathom losing his grasp on power (we have a few of those roaming around loose on the earth at the mo:) ), he’ll always fight back.
Goliaths will never be quiet and Pharaohs will not let you go easy. You cannot be passive about this. You cannot wish your victory into being. Resisting the devil is NOT easy, pretty or glamorous; it simply must be done.
If you want deep-seated joy that lasts beyond your latest Netflix binge, you’re going to have to fight for it.
Unvarnished Truth
The enemy of your soul will throw bricks of fear, stones of negative thoughts to wear you down but you’re going to raise up the shield of faith to deflect the enemy’s fiery missiles.
This year, when you come under enemy fire and your mind is being pelted by missiles of despair, the answer is not to cry. I’ve had to learn this lesson the hard way. Yes, people might feel sorry for you but that won’t convince the enemy to give you a break and stop raining pain on you.
Ever seen a General on the battlefield cry at the sound of enemy fire? Not so. Even the General feels outnumbered, he’ll die fighting.
Strategy #3: Rinse and Repeat #1 & 2
Shimples! 🙂
If you want deep-seated joy that lasts beyond your latest Netflix binge, you’re going to have to fight for it.
If you want peace that flows unhindered and won’t get choked by the stresses of life, you’re going to have to fight for it.
If you don’t want the corridors of your mind to become occupied by anxious thoughts, you are going to have to fight for it. E V E R Y D A Y
Suit up! You’re 17 days into the battle already, whether you know it or not.
Unvarnished 