Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. Revelation 12:17
We are in a war! When I first started reading the Old Testament, I wondered why God’s people were involved in so much fighting. Later, I came to realise much of the Old Testament is a shadow of what was to come in the New Testament. Today there’re also many battles but they are spiritual.
Peter tells us the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). It’s an unusual analogy since lions on the prowl don’t roar. They want to surprise their prey, therefore they keep silent. It suggests the devil’s weapons are just a lot of noise. He uses accusations, condemnation, and intimidation but he has to ask God’s permission before he can do anything (Job 1&2 & Luke 22:31). While we may think making a lot of noise isn’t effective, we only have to look around for earthly examples of how leaders use intimidation to get their own way.
Many times I have seen people completely cave in to someone who presents their arguments in a domineering and forceful way. Other times people have been overwhelmed by a barrage of negative and critical comments. Spiritually this happens too. Satan will try to intimidate us or overwhelm us with a negative barrage of thoughts. Our defence is in believing what God says about us. We are God’s children, forgiven and dearly loved. We are heirs, saints, and righteous (Galatians 4:7; Ephesians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Yes, we are in a war but we can win this war by believing the truth of God’s word.
