To Encourage You

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

So much of life is a battle.  Some struggle to make a living.  It seems like it’s always such an uphill climb. Others fight addictions, but with little success.  There is fighting within families, and broken homes, broken relationships, and misery are frequently the results.  Some are fighting cancer or some other disease.  And then there is all the political wrangling we see each and every day. 

The same is true in the spiritual realm. There are struggles in that area, and often it is those struggles that are part and parcel of the other struggles in our lives that we don’t necessarily see as spiritual. In fact, the Bible tells us that physical struggles are often not as they appear, for it is the spiritual struggle that is behind the physical that is often the real fight.  We are told that “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” (Ephesians 6:12).  We are also told that “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other” (Galatians 5:17). In other words, the problem is often not our mother-in-law or the neighbor next door, but the unseen spiritual realities that are motivating the actions we see in others as well as in ourselves.  That’s why it’s such a struggle sometimes to “do the right thing.”  We are so often in a self-preservation mode.  We can deceive ourselves into thinking that dishonesty, harsh words, or some other sinful acts are better for us somehow, although to do so can be a difficult struggle against our conscience. 

Underlying all of this is the epic struggle in the universe between God and the devil. It’s a conflict that has been waged since the beginning of time and that was prophesied in the Garden of Eden. It was there that God spoke these words to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).  With these words, God was prophesying the great conflict that would go on throughout history, culminating at the cross where the devil would finally “get his way,” while at the very same time being destroyed in the very process.  We are told in 1 John 3:8 that “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”  That destruction began at the cross, where Jesus defeated the power of sin and death which are ultimately tools at Satan’s disposal.  The final destruction will culminate at the end of the age when Satan and all his hosts are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7-10). 

Meanwhile, the battle rages, and we find ourselves pulled into the midst of it.  So, what are we to do?  What’s our strategy in this great wrestling match.  Well, in the verse above we are told not just how to cope but how to have victory in just a few words. One command is to “submit to God.”  That means to submit to His Word.   Whatever He has told us to do, we are to simply trust and obey. And whatever He has told us not to do, we are to again, trust and obey.  It’s our protection. In reality, it’s the armor of God spoken of in military terms like “belt of truth,” “helmet of salvation,” and “sword of the Spirit” in Ephesians 6. It’s standing on the promises of God not just in belief but in practice. That’s exactly what Jesus did when He was confronted by Satan in the wilderness. He met each subtle temptation with a statement from the Word of God. And Satan left Him, for it is God’s Word that He could not resist.  It is with God’s all-powerful Word that we resist the old serpent, who comes to us just like he came to Eve.  So often, however, we do the opposite.  We resist God and His Word, and submit to the temptations of the evil one.  To do so is a recipe for personal failure and defeat, for it is God’s will that will ultimately prevail in the end.  

So, how’s the fight going?  Is life and its turmoil overwhelming you?  Are you not sure where to turn?  The answer is always in what we are submitting to and what we are resisting.  May God help us to submit to what He has told us to submit to while at the same time resisting the enemy of our souls.