One of our favorite songs to sing in Bible Club is The Fruit of the Spirit: "The fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut, the fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut. If you wanna be a coconut, you might as well hear it, you can't be a fruit of the Spirit, 'cause the fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...." The fun of the song undoubtedly comes from the accompanying hand jive motions.
The Christian life should indeed be characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. However, Christians can also expect trials, hardship, and opposition. After all, when we choose to leave the dominion of darkness and enter into the kingdom of light, Satan does not let go easily. All around are unseen spiritual forces fighting a spiritual battle. Temptation, self-condemnation, and old ways will beckon as a believer grows in faith. Opposition will arise as God's kingdom advances. These tactics are meant to discourage, wear down, and defeat the believer.
The good news for the believer is that these are just temporary battles. The War has already been won. We know the ending: God wins, Satan loses. Good overcomes evil, simple as that. At first, I thought of using Newton's third law of motion as an analogy to describe the spiritual warfare around us: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." But this is a false analogy, because the enemy is in no way equal to God. Satan has lost. There is only One who is "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see." (I Timothy 6:15-16)
What strategies do Christians have for winning the present battle?
The Christian life should indeed be characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. However, Christians can also expect trials, hardship, and opposition. After all, when we choose to leave the dominion of darkness and enter into the kingdom of light, Satan does not let go easily. All around are unseen spiritual forces fighting a spiritual battle. Temptation, self-condemnation, and old ways will beckon as a believer grows in faith. Opposition will arise as God's kingdom advances. These tactics are meant to discourage, wear down, and defeat the believer.
The good news for the believer is that these are just temporary battles. The War has already been won. We know the ending: God wins, Satan loses. Good overcomes evil, simple as that. At first, I thought of using Newton's third law of motion as an analogy to describe the spiritual warfare around us: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." But this is a false analogy, because the enemy is in no way equal to God. Satan has lost. There is only One who is "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see." (I Timothy 6:15-16)
What strategies do Christians have for winning the present battle?
1. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10-20)
The full armor:
The belt of truth; the breastplate of righteousness; your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace; the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one; the helmet of salvation; the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; and 24-7 prayer.
Two additional weapons to remind ourselves and the enemy that God is sovereign and bigger than any evil or challenge that we face: the joy of the Lord and praise!
2. Acknowledge the battle is the Lord's. When the shepherd boy David fought nine-foot-tall Goliath, his weapons of choice were a sling and five smooth pebbles from the stream. But what truly gave David the victory was his acknowledgement of God.
"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.....It is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give all of you into our hands," the boy told the champion Philistine fighter. (I Samuel 17)
The battle is the Lord's. He provides the defense, and He gives the victory.
The prophet Elisha knew this, so he was unruffled when the king of Aram sent an army to capture him. Elisha's servant saw the horses and chariots surrounding the city and panicked, "Oh, what shall we do?" he despaired. Elisha's response: "Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." He prayed to the Lord to open the servant's eyes, and the servant saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6)
God's not going to let us fall. In trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39) We will be victorious when we are on God's side.
3. Remember the great cloud of witnesses, throw off every hindrance, run with perseverance, and fix your eyes on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
I heard an American woman speak of the encouragement she found in a prison cell, after she and her husband were arrested (and her husband sentenced to death) for sharing the gospel in another country. Etched on the wall of her cell was writing by another Christian who had been imprisoned before her. She said, "It gave me such encouragement to remember that there were other Christians in here before me, and there will be others after me."
You are not alone.
- when your family rejects you after you choose to believe in Jesus
- when you struggle with the everyday feelings of anger, fear, resentment, jealousy, insecurity, etc.
- when co-workers/ friends ridicule you for your beliefs and choices
- when you face opposition as you share the gospel
Keep going. Don't stop running the race. Run with perseverance and fix your eyes on the prize, the Lord Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. He ran the race too. "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." He will help us finish the race.
When I read a novel, sometimes I skip the middle and read the end first. I want to know if the protagonist makes it, if there is a satisfying ending. In the Christian life, we know already. God is victorious, forever and forever. As his people and servants, so will we be too. Don't grow weary and don't lose heart. Look to the victory and the prize. The War has been won.