This will take you to a whole new realm in God. Years ago, I decided not to give the evil one a place at my table. My life changed. I rarely feel the need for spiritual warfare. The less room you give the evil one, the less you have to deal with him. Put your face to God and seek Him in all things. When Jesus said “It is finished”, He meant just that.

“SPIRITUAL WARFARE” – MAYBE?

Written by Carrie Hathaway. You can find her on Facebook.

I have spent most of my life listening to Christians talk about “spiritual warfare.” And if you’ve spent much time in Christian circles, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Having problems in your marriage? “Spiritual warfare.” Kids acting like they’ve lost their ever-loving minds? “Spiritual warfare.” Bad diagnosis from the doctor? “Spiritual warfare.” Feeling depressed? “Spiritual warfare.” Can’t find a parking spot at Walmart? Well, clearly the devil is trying to keep you from getting your groceries.

I’m exaggerating a little, but not nearly as much as I wish I were.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve managed to turn almost every difficult, painful, inconvenient, or uncomfortable experience into a battle with the enemy. And in some Christian circles, it almost becomes a badge of honor. The more “spiritual warfare” you’re experiencing, the more important your assignment must be. After all, the enemy wouldn’t be attacking you so hard if you weren’t such a threat to his kingdom, right?

I used to believe every bit of that.

About four years ago, I had a conversation with a woman that completely changed my life. I didn’t know it at the time, but that conversation would begin unraveling an entire way of thinking about God, the enemy, and what Jesus actually accomplished on the cross.

I was exhausted. I was ministering in prisons, working with single moms, walking alongside women coming out of addiction and some incredibly dark places. And I was convinced I was experiencing severe “spiritual warfare” because I was pushing back the kingdom of darkness.

I sat down with this woman and began telling her how badly I was being attacked by the enemy. She listened kindly and asked me to explain what was happening and why I believed it was “spiritual warfare.”

So I told her. ALL of it. How hard ministry was, how much opposition I was facing, how exhausted I was, and how the enemy was obviously coming after me because of the work I was doing for God.

She looked at me and said, “Wow. You sound very important.”

Now, I probably should have recognized that she was setting me up right then and there. But apparently my arrogance and my exhaustion had joined forces and neither one was particularly interested in discernment that day.

Then she asked me a question.

“Do you believe in the finished work of the cross? Do you believe Jesus meant it when He said, ‘It is finished’? Do you believe He has overcome?”

Well, OF COURSE I did. I gave her my very best Christian answer.

Then she asked, “Do you believe God is bigger than the enemy?”
Again, OF COURSE.

And then she said something that absolutely rocked my world.

“Then why do you keep getting down in the dirt and rolling around with the enemy?”

I cannot adequately explain what happened in that moment.

I’ve only had a handful of experiences in my life where I believe I’ve heard something audibly in the spiritual realm. And in that moment, I heard what sounded like a loud POP. Almost like someone had burst a balloon right next to my ear.

And suddenly, I saw it.

For the first time in my life, I could see the contradiction I had been living in.

I said I believed Jesus had conquered the enemy, but I was living as though the outcome of the battle was still undecided. I said I believed in the finished work of the cross, but I spent an enormous amount of time and energy fighting as though Jesus hadn’t finished anything.

I looked at her, absolutely stunned, and asked, “Wait. You mean I can opt out? Like, I can literally just choose not to participate?”

She started laughing.

“Jesus said He conquered all things. If you believe that, then act like it.”

Something shifted so deeply inside me that day that I have never been the same.

Now, here’s the part of the story I hadn’t even told her.

During that season, I was experiencing things that absolutely terrified me. Horrible dreams. Nights when I couldn’t sleep because I would see things crawling up the walls and across the ceiling of my bedroom. I was so afraid that there was a period when I stayed awake for three days, waiting for my husband to wake up in the mornings because I was terrified of being alone with what I was experiencing.

I was exhausted, frightened, and convinced I was under tremendous demonic oppression.

But the moment that woman spoke those words and my heart received what the Holy Spirit was showing me, everything changed.

The nightmares stopped. The terrifying experiences at night stopped. The thoughts that had tormented me stopped.

It was as though someone had flipped a light switch on inside my heart.
And the darkness that had seemed so powerful suddenly wasn’t.

Now, please don’t hear what I’m not saying.

I absolutely believe evil is real. I believe there are demonic forces. Scripture certainly doesn’t pretend otherwise. And I am not suggesting that every difficult circumstance disappears when we understand the truth, or that people who continue to struggle simply don’t have enough faith.

But I am suggesting that we Christians might need to SERIOUSLY reconsider how much attention, authority, and power we have been giving to an enemy that Jesus has already defeated.

Colossians 2:15 says that Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them through the cross.

Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Notice He didn’t promise us a life without trouble. He promised us His victory and His presence in the middle of it.

We’ve become so consumed with identifying what the enemy is doing that we’ve forgotten to look for what our Father is doing. We’ve spent so much time rebuking darkness that we’ve forgotten we belong to the Light.

We talk about the devil as though he’s hiding behind every disappointment, every illness, every difficult relationship, and every closed door. And before long, we begin interpreting our entire lives through the activity of an enemy rather than the presence of a victorious Savior.

Think about that.

Whose power are we magnifying?
Whose presence are we looking for?
Whose victory are we actually living from?

I can tell you that since that conversation four years ago, I rarely even use the term “spiritual warfare” anymore.

And it certainly isn’t because my life has become easy. I’ve walked through some incredibly painful and difficult places over the last few years. There have been seasons of heartbreak, disappointment, exhaustion, and circumstances I wouldn’t wish on anybody.

But something is fundamentally different now.

When I find myself in a hard place, I don’t immediately start looking for a demon to blame or a battle to fight. I don’t roll out my warfare prayers and bind and cast out things. I sit with the Lord and ask, “Father, where are You in this? What do You want me to see? What is true about You, about me, and about this situation that I can’t see?”

Because He promised He would never leave me or forsake me.

And David wrote something in Psalm 139 that absolutely takes my breath away.
“If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there!”

Do you understand what he’s saying?

Even in the deepest, darkest, most hellish place imaginable, God is still there. He’s never NOT THERE!

He’s not standing outside the darkness waiting for you to fight your way out so He can finally come close. He’s not intimidated by your circumstances. He’s not frightened by demons. He’s not wringing His hands wondering how this particular battle is going to turn out.

He’s there. Right there. With you.

And the more I have come to understand the finished work of Jesus, the less interested I have become in getting down in the dirt and wrestling with an enemy He has already defeated.

There is a tremendous difference between acknowledging that evil exists and organizing your entire spiritual life around fighting it.

One keeps your eyes open to reality. The other can keep your eyes so fixed on the darkness that you lose sight of the One who has overcome it.

I spent years believing I was supposed to fight for victory. Now I’m living from the victory of Jesus.

And let me tell you, the freedom on this side of that revelation is something I wouldn’t trade for anything.

So maybe the next time life gets hard, before you announce that you’re under “spiritual warfare,” ask yourself a different question.

What if this isn’t an invitation to fight the devil?

What if it’s an invitation to become more deeply aware of the God who has never left you?

Because Jesus didn’t say, “It is finished… unless the enemy comes after you again.”

He said, “It is finished.”

And I think it’s time we started living like we believe Him. I feel like some of us needed to hear that today!!!