Hello everyone,
I wanted to take a moment to share with you some insight of what I’ve been learning recently on the topic of Spiritual Warfare. This topic in particular has been a very real thing especially in these past couple of weeks and months leading up to the mission trip that I’ll be going on: “The World Race”. Because while I know that I’m getting ready to embark on something big that God has planned for me, the enemy knows that as well, and he’s going to do everything he can to discourage and direct me away from God’s plan.
It’s been in these past couple of months that I’ve faced more pushback from people in my life, more temptation, and more distractions than I probably have in the past year. And again, there is a reason behind this. The enemy isn’t going to waste his time on idle people who aren’t contributing to the kingdom of God. Rather, he is going to pursue after the people that are on fire and on a mission to serve God and share about Him. With this, we must understand that the enemy utilizes these different schemes in order to render us immobile and retreat from our God-given purpose. However, it’s in acknowledging the reality of spiritual warfare and then the deliberate preparation against the enemy’s schemes that help us to stand firm when the enemy comes against us.
First things first; know that we are in constant spiritual warfare, from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep (and even while we’re asleep at times). We know this to be true if we look back into the book of Ephesians, where it reads: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 NLT). This scripture gives us reference that spiritual warfare is not a specific person or an event that occurs, rather, it is the spirits that work behind the scenes inciting those events and provoking those people. In order to decipher the schemes of the enemy and determine if it’s spiritual warfare, one can ask themselves the following questions:
- Where does God have me right now?
- How is God using me in the season that I’m in?
- In what ways may I be seen as a threat to the enemy?
Once you’ve identified the why (and sometimes, you may not always know the reason why), you can look at the scheme and see, which strategy is the enemy trying to employ upon you. Here are some different schemes of the enemy that I took note of (along with the scriptural references to support the point made):
- The enemy will debate God’s Word and challenge God’s authority. We see this within the book of Matthew 4 in which Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) and the enemy (Satan) comes to tempt Jesus. We see the enemy try to use God’s Word against Jesus when he says, “‘If you are the song of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, “He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.”‘” (Matthew 4:5-6 NLT) Here we see the craftiness of Satan in which he not only attempted to use scripture against Jesus (because the enemy knows the scripture), but he also challenged Jesus’ authority. Notice the word that Satan used – “if”. Here, this is a direct challenge to God’s authority in which Jesus was just affirmed by his heavenly father (see Matthew 3:16-17). This is why it is so important to be well versed and competent of the Word of God (and the context in which it is used). It is also vital that we establish who God is in our life: Our king, ruler and Lord. This means that God calls the shots and has the authority, not us.
- The next scheme that the enemy will utilize is that he will deceive the mind with lies. He will take things and manipulate them so that lies appear as truths. Let’s flip the page back to Genesis 3, in which Adam and Eve sin. To give some prior context (from Genesis 2), God commanded Adam that he could eat of any tree except the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15-17).
- But as we see in Genesis 3:1-4 NLT, “‘Did God really say you must not eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ ‘Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,’ the woman replied. It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, “You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.”‘ ‘You won’t die!’ the serpent replied to the woman.
- Here the enemy is trying to take what God commanded of Adam and Eve and trying to manipulate it so that Adam and Eve will sin. And the same thing happens to us in our own lives. There are times we are well aware of what we should and should not do, but the enemy will come in and deceive us, getting us to buy into the counterfeit. This is why it is so important that we test everything that comes to our minds with the Word of God. This will reveal the solidity of the statement while also revealing where it’s coming from.
- Another scheme of the enemy is that he will plant doubt about God’s goodness. The enemy will continue to question you about the goodness of God and if God really has your best interest in mind. He will attempt to make you question why God does what He does (or doesn’t do) and try to get you to lose your trust in God. We see this also in the book of Genesis when the serpent is speaking with Eve:
- “‘You won’t die!’ the serpent replied to the woman. ‘God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.'” (Genesis 3:4-5).
- This is why it is so important that we develop a personal relationship with God that we understand the true character of God and know that He wants what is best for us.
- In addition to this, the enemy will delude you of the consequences of sin. The enemy know of the different lures that grab our attention and stir our affections, and the enemy is going to do everything he can to hide the hook of painful consequences that come with the sin. An example of this can be found in the story of David and Bathsheba in the book of 2 Samuel 11. When David first saw Bathsheba, it wasn’t likely that his mind automatically went to adultery and murder. Rather, his affections were stirred when he “noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath” (11:2). It wasn’t until after David slept with her and finding out that she was pregnant that David was faced with the consequences of sin. And just like David, many of us try to hide what we’ve done, that way nobody will know. But it’s in this hiding that we actually shackle ourselves to our sin and shame. This is why we must be vigilant in seeking community that knows our tendencies and lures so that they can speak soberly into us about sin (like the Prophet Nathan was for David).
- Finally, what I believe to be the most prevalent scheme of the enemy, especially in our day, is that the enemy will distract us from our pursuit of growth and pursuit of God. Like stated earlier, the enemy is going to do everything he can to derail us from our God given purpose and plan for our lives. Often times, he does this through the distraction of comfort and contentment with counterfeit promises. We see this sort of distraction in the stories of both David. During the time that David fell into sin with Bathsheba, it says that David was supposed to be out at war with his troops (see 2 Samuel 11:1-2). However, David stayed in his palace and allowed himself to be distracted from where and what he was supposed to be doing (as the king was supposed to go out to war). How many of us have been called to go out and do something, and yet, are distracted by the fools gold that the enemy places in front of us? This is why it is crucial that we plant God’s promises within our heart and continued to remind ourselves that we are on mission every day, 24/7. What is this mission? To share the good news of Jesus Christ and be an example (salt and light of the world) for those who are lost and without God.
With all of this said, I can say that I’ve faced my fair share of each of these schemes. The enemy on numerous occasions has challenged God’s authority in my own life through scripture causing me to question God’s goodness and authority over my life. The enemy has come at me with countless lies about my identity and who I am. The enemy has placed distraction after distraction while hiding the hook of consequences that come with sin. And it’s not to say that I’ve perfectly gotten all of it down. I still struggle and I’m learning how to combat it. Some of these ways that I’ve combatted the enemy’s schemes, as I mentioned before, are:
- I’ve studied the Word of God. When I don’t understand something, I don’t leave it at that. I research and read. I try and figure out as much as I can, whether that be translation or context, I try to understand the things of scripture that I may not understand.
- I seek to find the root of the lies that I’ve been told and then work to replace them with the truths that God has declared over me. For example, I’ve always been pretty insecure about my body image, and yet I can rest in the truth that God has created me as a masterpiece created for good (Ephesians 2:10), chosen, royal, holy and God’s very own possession (1 Peter 2:9). Because of these truths, I can be confident even when the enemy throws lies my way.
- When I struggle with doubt, I pray that God would help me to trust in him. When I struggle to see ahead of me and understand why God is allowing me to walk through the season that I’m walking through, I look back on God’s goodness that has taken care of me up to this point to serve as my trust in Him.
- When the enemy tries to put sin in front of me with a hidden hook, I remind myself of the consequences of sin. The feeling of emptiness, the feeling of shame, the feeling of unfulfillment. I remind myself of those. And I share them with my accountability partners so that they can remind me and speak soberly into my life about sin.
- And finally, with distractions, because there are so many, I work to set boundaries on what I allow and don’t allow into my life. This is probably the hardest one for me, and yet, I know that I am work in progress getting closer and closer to who I want to become (which is a man after God’s heart).
In conclusion, I’d like to leave you all with some questions:
- Where have you seen the enemy trying to work against you in your life?
- What schemes has the enemy been using against you recently?
- What ways have you been using (or need to use) to combat against the enemy’s schemes?
With Love,
Hunter Land
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