I started off my final teaching on Ephesians chapter 6 with a quote from the epic movie, “The Usual Suspects” (because I’m old but I am also cool and Bible study can be cool!) that goes like this:
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.
This is a true saying. Most of us make two errors when it comes to spiritual warfare. We either see it everywhere or don’t notice it anywhere. We either underestimate the spiritual realm or we overestimate it. Some of us live so out of step with the Spirit that our discernment of patterns and events has become muted, like the volume is turned way down on the spiritual reality around us. Others of us tag a “no weapon formed against me shall prosper” from Isaiah 54 on anytime we’ve proved someone wrong, recovered from a stomach bug or almost missed a flight but then didn’t.
My husband always says, if you’re not getting shot at, you’re not in the war. It’s possible that in our woeful carnality, we can miss the spiritual battle taking place around us. It’s also possible that we are constantly feeling “under attack” when in fact what we are simply finding ourselves living out consequences or living in a sinful fallen world where people are going to sin against us and stuff is just gonna go wrong. Scripture tells us that spiritual warfare (general) is a consistent reality, but also that spiritual attacks (specific) can be expected in the life of a believer.
We know that we have the victory in Christ, because He was victorious over sin, death and Satan, but at the same time, we also know that these things are still a reality, and they still trouble us this side of heaven. Christ came into the world to overcome sin, to overcome death, and to overcome Satan, but He also came into the world so that sin, death, and Satan would be overcome in our lives. And thát He has given us the power to do. But that overcoming is a progressive reality for us, not an instantaneous reality and that is very often where the battle lies. Yes, we have the victory in Christ, but we need to appropriate that victory to our own battles as His Kingdom comes more and more in our own lives.
And so, because Satan cannot undo the work of the gospel for our sake, he will want to undo its manifestation in our life. The enemy cannot destroy us but he can distract us, diminish our progress, damage our testimony and derail our maturity. And this understanding of his game plan (Eph 6 v 11), also helps us understand the key places where we might experience a spiritual attack, namely:
- Our identity
- Our purpose
- Our territory
- Our unity
Identifying specific areas of spiritual attack:
A spiritual attack will often take place in these areas of our lives because these are the areas where, specifically, we are called to glorify God and experience Him, where Kingdom dynamics will mean we engage so differently that salt and light become evident. These are also the areas where we can expect God to be at work in our sanctification. So you see, the battlefield is clearly laid out.
Identity:
as we find more and more our identity in His acceptance instead of that of the world, as we find ourselves more and more desiring to bring him glory in our purpose and work instead of ourselves (Eph 2 v 10),
Purpose:
as we shift from selfish ambition (Phil 2 v 3 – 4) to kingdom-minded service (Matt 6 v 33), from success to faithfulness, from status to significance, from fan to follower.
Territory:
as we take ground in our families, breaking past generational patterns, making disciples, healing from the past and stepping into new places of Kingdom effectiveness, particular places of fruitfulness and breakthrough and finally
Unity:
as the closest relationships in our lives start to reflect more and more the unity through the bonds of peace (Eph 4 v 3) and a love that is different from that in the world around us (John 13 v 35) that the Bible calls us to!
In these areas, we are called to be specifically watchful (1 Pet 5 v 8) using the protections afforded us in Scripture (Eph 6 v 14 – 17), on our guard against the devil’s chief weapons, namely lies and deception, attacking them with our single biggest weapons – the Word and prayer (Eph 6 17 – 18) when we find ourselves under attack!
Discernment markers of a spiritual attack
Ok so it’s a word I made up ok, I don’t know if “discernment markers” is an actual thing, but it’s the best way for me to describe the below points as things to prayerfully take note of in a particular season that may indicate we are experiencing a spiritual attack.
- An exhaustion of our critical thinking
- An incapacitating lack of soundness of mind and or body
- Events of calamity that seem to form a pattern or seem insidious, with often a specific starting point or trigger
- An atmosphere of pressure or oppression
- A sudden and noticeable lack of the sense of righteousness, peace and joy that are ours as members of the Kingdom of God (Rom 14 v 17) .
- An unshifting sense of condemnation instead of conviction, a pattern of thinking that brings you to doubt of your salvation.
- Unexplained yet abnormal difficulties in key relationships, for example, a distortion of communication between people or consistent miscommunication that cannot be clearly explained.
Of course, this list is not exhaustive, they are from my own and collective experiences in ministry these last 2 decades, from what I’ve observed in scripture – for example in the story of Job, and from talking to people ahead of me on this journey…..and simply on looking back at this year it has helped me understand some of what has occurred in my own life. And please note, this is not a formula. God’s Spirit does not work in formulas. He works in patterns and principles, signs and promptings, rhythms and roadsigns. In our struggles, His goal is our refining, perfecting, maturing (James 1 v 4), and conversely, the devil also has a goal when our days of disaster come – our discouragement, derailment and ultimate deception.
The truth is that often we will not know if we are being refined, attacked, punished or tempted. We will need to rely on God either way, lean into His Word for a quickened word (rhema – a particular word or verse – which is the word Paul uses in Ephesians 6 to describe our sword) to wield against attacks on our minds, our hearts, our people and places, and hold up the shield of faith – what Paul says we need “above all” (Eph 6 v 16) – because faith has the power to produce dynamic results (Mark 9 v 23). God’s word is pure, and He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him (Prov 30 v 5). I hope you can find as much refuge in that as I have these last few months.
Nunquam Non Paratus*!
(*never unprepared, always ready)