Spiritual Warfare: The Other Side of Trials

“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia.” (Daniel 10:12-13, ESV)

Jesus, Sovereign Creator and Ruler

Let me preface with this. If you are in Christ, you have nothing to fear. You are forever united with him who “..is before all things, and in him all things hold together”. He “is seated far above all ruler and authority and power and dominion […] not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Colossians 1:17 & Ephesians 1:21-23, ESV). Jesus’ Power far surpasses that of evil forces.

The devil prowls around. Spiritual attacks are very real.

However, we must recognize that spiritual attacks are very real, brutal and ongoing until Jesus returns. We are not to hyper-focus or obsess over it. But it seems some of us — willfully or not — ignore it. We are to be sober-minded and watchful. Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 8, ESV).

Biblical Examples of spiritual warfare

Remember Job? Satan asked God to take all he had, including his life. In his Sovereign and Divine Wisdom, God gave Satan permission to do so, except to take Job’s life (Job 1:10-12; 2:1-6).

In Daniel 9-10, for three weeks, demonic forces were quite literally fighting against Daniel receiving an answer to his prayers and fasting. Here is a part of the narrative in context: “I [Daniel] turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes […] In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks [..]. On the twenty-fourth day […] I … saw the vision […] And behold, a hand touched me […]. And he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days [..] O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage […] But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.” (Daniel 9:3-4,9: 8-19; 10:2-3; 10:19-21, ESV). Fascinating, right?

And then there is Peter. Jesus told him: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32, ESV). I wonder how often the accuser and enemy of our soul asks ‘to have us’ so that he might ‘sift us like wheat’? I am so thankful that Christ Jesus ‘is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us’ (Romans 8:34).

Even in Jesus' death, something that God had planned before the foundation of the world, Satan had a hand (Luke 22:3–6, ESV).

Persevere in Hope and Prayer. There may be another layer to your trial.

My point is this. There's another layer to our trials, suffering or delayed answers to prayers. There are evil forces actively warring against us and fostering circumstances to discourage us and destroy our faith. And God wants us to be aware of this. None of the devil's schemes negate God’s Sovereignty or can thwart his plans for us. But being aware of his schemes can help us to fight personal temptations more effectively and may shed light on certain areas of our lives. Very importantly, it should encourage us to persevere in hope and prayer, even when it seems that God is not listening or answering.

What's our response? Next time, we will look at various passages such as Ephesians 6 where Paul teaches us how to stand against spiritual evil forces. But it all boils down to this: being alert and continuing to abide in Jesus.