Speaking against the enemy

Over the past two weeks, I have felt worn and beaten. I broke my right wrist and had to have surgery on it 4 days before the first day of training camp. Not only have I been in constant pain, but I’ve also been emotionally drained from not knowing whether or not I could go to training camp. Training camp is the last step to be able to go on the World Race so not going to training camp would have been devastating.

There have been many other challenges, but I want to share the awakening I had this weekend. As I lay recovering from my surgery, I realized that I let my joy be taken. I allowed the enemy to whisper lies in my ear. I gave fear access to my heart where it had no place. And in a war between good and evil, I was giving the enemy tools to use against me. Here is what I’ve learned.

Most of us forget that we are fighting in a war every day against an enemy. Whether it’s Satan and his army or our own sinful nature, there is darkness, we face it daily and we are called to battle against that darkness(Ephesians 6:11-17). There is a real enemy that wants to steal, kill, and destroy (Luke 10:19). Although we should not give the enemy too much credit, we should not underestimate him either.

This past week, as I was facing hardship after hardship, I struggled to get back up and push forward. I became frustrated because I couldn’t understand why God was letting these things happen. They were getting in the way of what I thought was His will.  I was running low on hope to be honest. In the middle of my struggles, someone else had to point out that I had revealed a weakness – a few months ago, I expressed a fear of breaking a bone before the race…I even said it would be the thing that would keep me from going on the World Race. After I did break two bones in my wrist (bringing my greatest fear into reality), I then stated that surgery was the thing that would keep me from going on the World Race. As you know by now, not one but BOTH of my biggest fears became my reality. It was through a friend that I realized that both sides of the war are listening to what I am saying. My words have power. God could very well be responding to my fears by having me live through them, but the enemy could equally be trying to stop what God has in store through the World Race. A revelation for me, however, was that I had potentially given the enemy ammunition to use against me that would be the best chance he had of stopping me from doing what I very much believe God has called me to do.

I brought these things to God because I realized that if the enemy was in fact successfully getting to me it was because I wasn’t taking these things to God. I was letting the enemy get the best of me, but once I recognized this I decided to seek God through it. Let me tell you, I really believe that made the enemy angry because the fighting went on for days after that. I had some friends and people at church come to me saying that they could see the hardship and battle going on. Throughout the span of a few days I had several friends and even one of my morning devotionals spoke more about spiritual warfare, and they shared this idea of talking to the enemy out loud. (Sounds crazy, but stick with me!) The idea is that the enemy can’t know your thoughts and heart like God can, but he can hear your words and see your actions. When life seems to be ganging up on you and you feel the enemy’s pull you can speak out against him. As one of my friends put it, say “Not today Satan!”

The enemy “prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”, but God gives us the ability to overcome him (1Pet.5:8-9; 1Cor.15:57). “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). This is real stuff. As I put into practice the habit of the saying out loud  “Not today Satan!” I could start to feel a difference. At first, like any sane person I felt weird about doing it, but the more I spoke out the more power I could feel come back that had been drained from me before.  I had been feeling a heavy, tiresome weight on my shoulders when I finally spoke out and said “Enough! No more. My God is with me. My God is for me. No more.” Immediately I was changed. Where I had seconds before been on the verge of tears I was now laughing with joy that my God restored peace to me and vanquished my fears. There is power in our word when we have Jesus in our hearts. This is my realization that I wanted to share with you. We have a God that allows us to speak boldly against our very real enemy when we are under attack. Our God has the victory and He shares it with us. 

Now, just to have a small disclaimer, I do not believe the enemy is behind everything that goes wrong in life. What I do wish to communicate though is that there is a reason we have so many warnings in the Bible about WHEN we face him, not IF we face him. It is crazy that all we have to do is tell him to “go away” and he has to in the name of Jesus! What a powerful God we serve.

Last side note, another friend of mine told me about this great Hillsong United song called “Not Today.” It relates to this topic and is a great song so check it out if you want to sing the enemy away.

If you’re facing a battle and feel like you are at the end of yourself, try telling  problem that your God is bigger. Speaking truths out loud can help 1) make the enemy flee, but also 2)connect the truth from our heads to our hearts. Our words have powe!