Yes, years ago, I asked my little sister to take off her duct-taped moccasins and wade through receding flood waters to ensure I could successfully drive down a street. It was passable and no ill came upon us.
Once back on the road she cracked open my bible and returned to quizzing me as I practiced memorizing Ephesians 6:10-20. Prior to this, I’d realized the seriousness of spiritual warfare and 19-year-old me was adamant about putting this chunk of scripture into my mind.
Satan was schemy back then; he is still schemy now.
But now I don’t only see him scheming in my own life, but in the lives of those around me. In the lives of my kids. In the lives of my kids’ friends. In the lives of my nieces and nephews.
“Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand… that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” 1 Samuel 17:45-47
According to this really big book my pastor loaned me, generals encouraged soldiers to take a stand, viewing retreat as shameful and wounds in the back were evidence of it. So much so that some soldiers’ armor did not even cover their back and opponents easily slaughtered those who were retreating because they could not fight back. In certain situations, commanders even removed rear armor to force soldiers to face forward in battle.
So I can blame the earthly:
Boys will be boys.
Cell phones are ruining the world.
This is just the way we live now.
Kids these days have no respect.
We can’t protect them from everything.
She’s a teenager, what do you expect?
It’s not my battle to fight.
I’m just waiting for things to get better.
It’s just a busy season for everyone.
Social media is making everyone miserable.
As if the darkness of the world means we have no responsibility to carry light into it.
We blame the culture.
We blame the hormones.
We blame the fear.
We blame the temptation.
We blame the lies.
Instead of carrying light.
Speaking truth.
Walking in faith.
Responding with love.
Of course, the earthly causes are real, but what if we were to recognize the spiritual battle going on around us. The spiritual battle behind the earthly one is fought with prayer, worship, and earthly activity for God.
What does the spiritual battle even look like?
Believing a lie.
Being consumed with earthly problems.
Fighting the wrong enemy.
Divided.
Giving into the very thing we’re resisting.
Staying silent when truth needs to be shared.
Hebrews 10:39 says, “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
A couple decades ago, I was pretty serious about putting a ball through a hoop and trying not to let someone else put a ball through a hoop.
Standing at a whopping 5’8,” I was one of the biggest girls on our team. On one occasion we were playing a team that had a couple sisters that must’ve had really tall parents with strong genetics.
The strategy from my unofficial Coach Dad was to put them on the bench. Drive into them and draw a foul. Drive into them and draw a foul. Drive into them and draw a foul. Until they were sitting on the sideline.
You may be big.
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed.
We turn to the giant.
We face forward.
When you come at our children, we do not shrink back.
When you come at our marriages, we do not shrink back.
When you come at our families, we do not shrink back.
When you come at our identity, we do not shrink back.
We can dink around in this, “well, I went to church and I liked the music and the pastor was entertaining,” but if we dink around in this for too long, are we missing the vastness of what’s actually happening?
It’s not about us.
It’s not about our comfort.
It’s not about our enjoyment.
My spiritual warfare theology, I’m sure, falls short, but my experience is real.
I’ve felt the heaviness of darkness.
I’ve felt the emptiness of evil.
I’ve felt the pressure so thick it was almost physically heavy.
There are few images that are as vivid as the day I stood in front of a Buddhist statue with hundreds of people kneeling around me. I’d hiked up to the top of a mountain in China to visit a Buddhist temple on our class “field trip.” My teacher said, “if you don’t want to bow down to Buddha just try to walk through quickly.” Of course, I was caught in the middle; shoulder to shoulder with a sea of Chinese people and unable to move an inch.
In an instant, hundreds of people bowed down to worship a piece of concrete. Giving it money, tokens of love, their hope, their adoration.
With an overwhelming sense of heaviness, I stood in the center of this worship moment. Towards the end, my eyes fell on an older Chinese man. He was on his knees, he looked up, and our eyes met. The eye contact lasted much longer than what’s typically appropriate with a stranger.
The expressions on both of our faces were nothing short of wonder.
What gets our attention?
What gets our adoration?
Our time?
Our focus?
Our love?
We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed.
We face the enemy.
We move forward.
We are empowered.
We are equipped.
The same power that rose Christ is the same power inside believers.
Ephesians 6:10-20 says: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
Truth.
Righteousness.
Gospel of peace.
Faith.
Salvation.
Word of God.
Prayer.
There’s this comfortable cultural view of Christianity that fails to recognize the seriousness of evil.
Are we to be passive?
What am I refusing to shrink back from?
What does it look like to stand when everyone else is bowing?
The temptation to live a superficial, comfortable faith.
When retaliation feels justified and you choose not to let bitterness win.
When fear tells you to stay silent, but “there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” Jeremiah 20:9.
When you feel pressure to shrink your faith to keep others comfortable.
When everyone is consumed with distraction and you choose to be intentional.
When you’re tempted to neglect prayer and scripture and Jesus and you choose to fight against temptation.
When you’re down for what seems like the final count, but you choose faith in a God who does immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed.
So we stand.
Not because the battle is easy. Not because the darkness isn’t real. Not because we have the strength to fight it on our own.
But because we know who goes before us. We know who fights for us. And we know the battle is the Lord’s.
Put on the armor. Pick up your sword. Lift your eyes.
Maybe it starts with taking off our duct-taped moccasins, stepping into the water together, putting scripture inside of us, and trusting the God who can save. Refusing to shrink back. Refusing to leave each other to fight alone. Standing firm in truth, covered in prayer, and carrying the light of Jesus into the darkness.