The Devil Will Not WinSample

Facing Our Real Enemy

Every battle begins with understanding the enemy. If soldiers do not know who they are fighting, how can they be prepared to fight? I believe a lot of Christians today do not know their real enemy, the devil.

It is time to prepare ourselves for the battle before us. As Christians, we are engaged in what is called spiritual warfare, and this war cannot be fought with physical or military might, guns, and torpedoes. The spiritual fight we are in is significant, and a very real enemy has marked each of us for attack.

In spiritual warfare, we find that God does things that are beyond human understanding. To defeat our enemy, we must not allow our confidence in God to be compromised, rather, we need to place our trust in Him through submission and obedience. He will prepare us for battle and make a way for His will to be done.

The Old Testament book of 1 Samuel tells the story of David and Goliath. Goliath represented the latest technology in military warfare. He was a man of prowess and strength, had the best equipment, and was well trained for battle. His whole life had been devoted to fighting, and he was confident he could defeat anyone.

David was inexperienced when it came to warfare and fighting techniques. He was simply a shepherd boy, whose expertise lay in taking care of his family’s sheep out in the fields. When he faced Goliath, it was not a fair match from a human standpoint.

Standing before Goliath, David told the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45). He had no hesitancy in believing that God was on his side. His confidence was not rooted in his own might, but in his lifelong relationship with God. David’s confidence in God made him unshakable!

But what does it mean to have confidence in God? Paul said, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). At the center of our confidence in God is our faith and trust in Him for all things—regardless of whether we understand the situation before us.

The world offers many things to place our faith in. Relationships, jobs, government . . . everybody puts their faith in something or someone. For the Christian, faith is grounded and nourished in the Word of God. As we surrender ourselves to His Word, He begins to develop the faith in us that we need to have His perspective, which in turn builds our confidence in Him.

Heavenly Father, the battle is before me, and I need Your help and discernment to identify who my enemy really is. Give me the courage to stand against him, and let Your Word strengthen and lead me in the right direction. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.