I had a couple of big fears as a kid: 1) boa constrictors and 2) quicksand. As I\u2019ve gotten older, though, I\u2019ve happily realized that neither quicksand nor boa constrictors are the everyday struggles of adulthood that I thought they\u2019d be (bills are much worse). When I was nine, I became afraid of the devil and seeing demons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raised in a Christian home, I heard a lot of talk about spiritual warfare, how God and His angels fight against what Paul calls \u201cprincipalities,\u201d \u201cpowers,\u201d \u201cthe rulers of the darkness of this age,\u201d and \u201cspiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places\u201d (Ephesians 6:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, like my thoughts on boa constrictors and quicksand, my thoughts on spiritual warfare have changed. I believe a spiritual battle rages on, but it doesn\u2019t always look like what I thought it would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes it\u2019s tempting to reduce spiritual warfare to someone being possessed by a demon or to think it\u2019s only paranormal activity or something missionaries experience when they share the gospel with witch doctors. Spiritual warfare is those things but not just<\/em> those things.<\/p>\n When I was nine, I became afraid of the devil and seeing demons.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n If the good news of the gospel is that God is love, He\u2019s been faithful, and salvation is already achieved in Jesus, then spiritual warfare could be as simple as things that keep you from living in His love every day. Spiritual warfare could be the urge to doomscroll on your phone and become so discouraged with your life that you go shopping instead of to your small group. It could be the urge to find your value in your productivity at work so that you don\u2019t make time to be still in God\u2019s presence or be present with family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Songwriter Andy Gullahorn once wrote a song called, \u201cIf I Were,\u201d in which he croons about what he\u2019d do if he were the devil:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, I’m not the devil but if I was \/ I’d take God’s people and split them up \/ To keep their minds off who they’re called to be \/ . . . I’d make moms and dads who never stick around \/ Pain so bad you have to drink to drown \/ And guilt so I can kick you when you’re down \/ And I would, if I were. <\/em>1<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe you didn\u2019t know it, but we\u2019re all fighting battles. What does yours look like? Is it giving your guilt to Jesus? Is it putting your phone down? Is it finding a Christian therapist? Whatever it is, fight the good fight of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n