What if you were at war, but didn’t know it?

Some pundits think that describes most Americans. We’re fighting on two fronts, but you’d hardly know it, if you looked at how most people live on a daily basis. The battlefield is so far away, so distant and removed from our everyday lives, that it’s easy to forget about the danger that lurks, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

But what if there was a battle that engaged you, personally, and you were still clueless about it?

Unfortunately, that describes many believers. We get so caught up in the day-to-day demands of our lives that we often forget we’re engaged in a war against an enemy who wants to utterly devour and thoroughly destroy us.

Think I’m being overly dramatic? Listen to how the Apostle Peter put it, in his letter to the churches scattered throughout Asia: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (I Peter 5:8)

Most of us don’t take the time to think about the unseen — but very real — spiritual battle that rages all around us, on a daily basis. But we should. The surest way to go down in defeat is to be unaware that you’re in a fight to start with.

The good news is the Bible tells us that, if we resist, the devil will flee from us (James 4:7). But how, exactly, do we do that?

At this point the Scripture is abundantly clear. Not only does God’s Word identify the enemy, but it also gives instructions on how to fight. In Ephesians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul encourages believers to “put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” As Paul points out in that passage, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against “the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

The fact is, God has equipped us for battle. He’s provided everything from “the sword of the
Spirit” (which is the word of God) to “the shield of faith” — with which, Paul reminds us, we’ll be able to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

We don’t need to fear the enemy. God Himself is our ally, which makes for a coalition force that can’t be beat. When we clothe ourselves in Christ, we’re thoroughly prepared for every challenge. But God also expects us to engage, and do our part in “fighting the good fight” (I Timothy 6:12).

Because, in the end, all the equipment in the world won’t do a bit of good, if we fail to acknowledge there’s a battle raging in the first place.