When Attacks Become Personal

Philippians 4 : 6 - 7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. NKJV

Your heavenly Father loves you. However, when the love of God is taught or shared from a believer to a non-believer, it is generally in the context that God gave His only-begotten Son to die in our place. It is true that when you accepted Christ as your personal Savior, you became a victorious child of the Most High God. Through Jesus and the work of the cross, you have been made more than a conqueror, and He causes us to always triumph over our enemies.

Nevertheless, since we haven't died, gone to heaven, and remained there, none of us have really had to put the promise of eternal security to the test. We know that Paul taught us to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, but none of us has faced that battle in our walk of faith, yet. I'm not suggesting that we have to die before we have proof that salvation belongs to us. I'm just merely stating that we haven't had to face eternity so none of us have been able to realize the degree of the love of God. Therefore, we have to fight the spiritual battles that we face in this life with the assurance that God is with us "by faith."

During an attack of the enemy, the love of God is put to the test and tried more so than any other time in our walk. It is during an assault against us that we can begin to waiver in our faith that God truly does love us. Why does it seem easier to believe the Bible and the truth that God does, indeed, love us more so when times are good, but then we struggle with our faith when we come under an attack?

Here is the explanation that the Lord conveyed to me about this struggle. I have found in my own walk that it is easier for me to pray and have faith for someone else who is battling the very thing I am enduring myself than it is for me to stand in faith for my situation. Perhaps you have found this to be true in your life as well. Why does it seem that our faith is stronger at times when we pray for others and weaker when we have to believe for ourselves?

The key to winning any battle is to have the ability not to take it personally. Our battles are harder to obtain victory over because it's personal to us. It's good that we have noticed this occurs so that we can go to God and learn an even greater truth about the authority of God in our lives. God not only loves us, but He has also given us His authority on the earth through Christ so that we might walk in dominion over the schemes of the Devil.

The Lord said, "The battles that I face, though it appears to me to be a personal attack, still belongs to the Lord." In the same way that I can fight with more vigor when someone asks me to pray for their situation, when I realize that this "personal" battle is really God's battle, and Satan is trying to get me in between God and the battle, then I can then obtain the confidence to fight Satan on a spiritual level. No matter how personal the battle may be and believe me, I have experienced many personal attacks; we must never take ownership of the battle. We are in this world to serve God (not ourselves). Therefore, it is God who will fight this battle, and it is God who will win this battle. We will be still and see the salvation of the Lord.     

Hidden in Christ,
Pastor Asa Dockery