No More Fighting

 "Why are we fighting a defeated, useless enemy?"

DAYS COME AND GO. Good ones. Bad ones. Today, I’m facing impossible odds. Tomorrow, I’m not. I lean on Jesus in both. He is dependable. We are – to a point. I limit myself in several behaviors. I dislike open fists, the need of some to fight, especially in the church. It is God’s command to rest which rescued me. I’ve heard warfare taught most of my upbringing. To have the Spirit say it is not what we need to do is offensive to a lot of church people. In part, myself included. For me, only in the sense of against “the devil.” I dislike fighting with people. I’ve learned to prefer others, and honestly, it causes me no unhappiness. I tell people all the time that I will listen, whether I agree or not. I don’t feel the need to respond.

“People said bad things about Christ, but he did not say bad things back to them. People did bad things to him and they caused him trouble and pain. But he never said that he would do bad things to them. Instead, Christ continued to believe that God would help him. God always decides only what is right and fair.” (1 Peter 2:23, EasyEnglish)

We aren’t supposed to fight people. Our instruction (command, in the Scripture) is to “love one another (John 13:34).” This means every person. We are not supposed to get into strife. This is I-am-right-you-are-wrong thinking. We call it correction, and when in the pulpit, discipline. No, offense is offense, and God knows our motive. Jesus should be our example of love, of forgiveness. He died for those who hung Him there. He shows us obedience and submission. He did only the Father’s “acts of power (John 14:10, Knox).”

He spoke to draw men to Him, to cause them to see Him as their Messiah. He was bold. He also was sinless (Hebrews 4:15). And in His hour of pressure, silent. He made no defense, dying of His own volition so that, through death, the devil would be (and is) destroyed (Hebrews 2:14). Why are we fighting a defeated, useless enemy? His works have been dissolved (1 John 3:8). This is every devil, every unclean spirit, and includes all evil. Our only battles are in the mind and with the physical body. For these, we have the Holy Spirit, we have Jesus as our Healer. We have the love of the Father, all around us.

The sword we are given is of the Spirit. The Word which it signifies is Jesus (Ephesians 6:17). God did the work. He fought the battle. We are given Their victory. To praise Him, to rest in Him, to endure in hopeful joy until it is entirely fulfilled. Trust me, I know. Every time I curled my fists again and started shouting at the darkness, it’d come back to me how useless my efforts alone are, and I’d return to the shadow of the Almighty. There, beneath His wings, is healing (Malachi 4:2), is safety. There, His Truth is my shield and buckler (Psalm 91:4). And greatest of all, there is peace, calmness, comfort, enjoyment (Psalm 91:16, TPT). Which is all He desires for me to see while I wait.

Let God be God. You be His son or daughter, surrounded by the benefits of a worthy, joyful, generous King.

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” (Malachi 4:2)

“The words I speak to you are not my own words; and the Father, who dwells continually in me, achieves in me his own acts of power.” (John 14:10, Knox)

Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com