The bell sounds. Ding! Ding! Ding! In one corner, what looks to be a giant in massive size and stance, whose eyes are piercing with evil. In the other corner, there’s us. The odds appear to be stacked against us and the fight is clearly uneven. Sounds like everyday life, right? That’s how we see ourselves most days, in the ring, fighting a fight we cannot win, against an enemy who won’t stop until we’re destroyed. Sounds like the battle has already been decided, doesn’t it?
Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Half the battle is knowing who your opponent actually is. Our opponent is not the one who did us wrong, or the one who is causing chaos in our lives. Our real enemy is not flesh and blood! It’s that ugly, massive, mountain of a devil standing in the other corner of the ring. He masquerades himself to look this way, hoping to intimidate us so that he can gain the upper hand. Remember earlier I said “what looks to be.”
I remember, as a kid, watching “The Wizard of Oz”, and how Dorothy had a traumatic event occur, that knocked her out, and caused her to dream a very detailed but unrealistic dream. She found herself in unfamiliar territory, that brought some happiness for a short while, but eventually placed her right in front of the wizard. His voice was dramatically loud and terrible, and his image sent even the lion running for the hills. As a kid, I hated to hear that voice and couldn’t wait for the scene to change. Yet, once Dorothy noticed the man behind the curtain, she unveiled the real enemy…a manipulator who had no power at all.
Our troubles tend to “knock us out”, catching us off guard, until we are already defeated in our minds. Many times, we play out the battle in our heads and have decided that the lion was wise in running away. After all, the devil comes to us in many forms, sounding loud and ferocious, as if his power can overtake us. But just like the wizard, the devil is a manipulator with no power at all. Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
We have to be bold and courageous, to pull back the curtain and expose the enemy for who he is. He’s not massive. He doesn’t have authority over us. Our power, through Christ, trumps the enemy’s power, and therefore makes us VICTORIOUS! Jesus Christ made you to conquer, overcome, and WIN! Don’t be intimidated by the one who is really intimidated by you. Through prayer, when we believe God and take Him at His word, we will no longer be running away, but having done all we know to do in Christ, WE WILL STAND!