KNOW YOUR ENEMY
By: Elle Buell
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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.
Ephesians 6:10-12 KJV
After experiencing a hurtful situation several years ago in my life and wasting lots of time feeling depressed and frustrated about it, I finally got fed up with allowing this thing to have so much control over my life. I was especially upset that I felt so far away from God when I felt I hadn’t done anything wrong. Shouldn’t God be close to me during this time since I was the collateral damage of someone else’s decisions? I spent months researching and studying what it means to be offended and how offense impacts our relationship with God. While we stew in what we believe to be “justified” feelings of offense, that offense builds a wall between God and us. As long as we’re harboring offense, there is a limitation to how close we can be with Him.
God made it extremely clear to me that my first step to removing offense in my life was to know my enemy. God tells us in this Scripture that our true enemy is NOT “flesh and blood.” Then He tells us that our actual enemies are “principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.” When you really begin to understand that whatever you’ve pointed your offense at is NOT your actual enemy, then you can start working toward the next step in removing offense from your life—forgiveness.
This isn’t an easy process, and I know that hurt is a very real thing with very real damage attached. I’ve been there. Today, I want to challenge you to start redirecting your hurt at your true enemy and ask God to help you heal and forgive.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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.
Ephesians 6:10-12 KJV
After experiencing a hurtful situation several years ago in my life and wasting lots of time feeling depressed and frustrated about it, I finally got fed up with allowing this thing to have so much control over my life. I was especially upset that I felt so far away from God when I felt I hadn’t done anything wrong. Shouldn’t God be close to me during this time since I was the collateral damage of someone else’s decisions? I spent months researching and studying what it means to be offended and how offense impacts our relationship with God. While we stew in what we believe to be “justified” feelings of offense, that offense builds a wall between God and us. As long as we’re harboring offense, there is a limitation to how close we can be with Him.
God made it extremely clear to me that my first step to removing offense in my life was to know my enemy. God tells us in this Scripture that our true enemy is NOT “flesh and blood.” Then He tells us that our actual enemies are “principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.” When you really begin to understand that whatever you’ve pointed your offense at is NOT your actual enemy, then you can start working toward the next step in removing offense from your life—forgiveness.
This isn’t an easy process, and I know that hurt is a very real thing with very real damage attached. I’ve been there. Today, I want to challenge you to start redirecting your hurt at your true enemy and ask God to help you heal and forgive.