And we have the prophetic word [made] firmer still. You will do well to pay close attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal (squalid and dark) place, until the day breaks through [the gloom] and the Morning Star rises (comes into being) in your hearts.
2 Peter 1:19, AMPC
One of the most important things about knowing God is knowing Him through His Word, the Holy Bible. Let me ask you: are you truly, fully, and unapologetically committed to the Word of God, regardless of what you see and hear going on around you? It is easy for anyone to shout “Amen” during a church service when things are going well, but what are you agreeing with (saying Amen to) when you are in the middle of a whirlwind? When you are squeezed, what comes out? Like a lemon being crushed, when you and I are under pressure, whatever stuff we have on the inside comes spilling out.
Make no mistake: life will squeeze each and every one of us. This by no means does away with the power of an overcoming believer, but it addresses the reality that we are living in a sinful, fallen world, and there will be difficulties along the way–and some of them will crush us to our very core. We need to prepare ourselves, to “gird up the loins of [our] minds, be sober, and rest [our] hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)
We must exercise ourselves to train and develop the kind of spiritual muscle and endurance necessary to finish our races well. We need spiritual backbones. We need spiritual grit. We need to be made of the “right stuff.” Especially as the end of days draws nearer and nearer, we must contend in battle to keep ourselves strong, resilient, and unspotted by the ever-more-subtle wickedness of the world.
In this way, we will be able to stand strong and firm in the face of any and all demons of hell–and even Satan himself–as we humbly and boldly occupy our God-given position of authority in heavenly realms. Let’s take a practical look at what this kind of training looks like.
Train Yourself in Times of Peace
Today, I believe the Holy Spirit desires to offer some helpful, Scriptural guidance as to how to take our “spiritual pulse,” and how to do a quick “battlefield tune-up” as we continue to engage in warfare against spirits of darkness. Remember, our battle is not against flesh and blood (politicians, political parties, leaders), but “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)
Before we begin, I want to note that I believe (according to examples in the Bible) that the best way to find out what you are truly made of is to take a good look at yourself when things are going well, because it is in times of “peace” that we relax, let our guards down, and our true colors show. It’s important to point this out before we get into the “battlefield check,” because we continually find ourselves in one of two seasons: times of peace and times of war. Each season is ripe with opportunity to prepare for the next.
Think about King David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. If you are not familiar with this story, I encourage you to carefully read all of chapter 11 and 12 for the whole picture. Notice that David, who was “a man after God’s own heart,” made a tremendously poor decision when he had become lazy towards the things of God because of his successful career. He no longer had to go in and out to do battle with the other kings of the region; he had soldiers for that. He could afford to sit around at the palace all day and no one would blame him. He had developed a reputation that was untarnished, he was greatly feared, and his administration of government was second to none. David was a successful and prosperous man.
Unfortunately, he had developed such a lax lifestyle that he (temporarily) grew callous to the things of God. David had become bored with success.
Success itself is not wrong, but when we begin to succeed, we must take acute heed to our spiritual state. Notice that in 2 Samuel 11:1-2, David “remained at Jerusalem” when it was customary for the kings (not the kings’ servants) to go out and do battle. But David was at home resting. He had become so successful that he no longer had to go out and work. He allowed himself to become lazy with a comfortable lifestyle. Again, the Bible never says there is anything wrong with a comfortable lifestyle. I’ll say that again. Nowhere in the Bible do we hear God say anything about a comfortable lifestyle being sinful.
But notice what can happen when a person gets so comfortable they begin to slack off on their intimacy with the Lord and with their responsibilities:
“It happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.”
King David didn’t get out of bed until the evening instead of doing what he was called and anointed to do–to be the king that God designed him to be!
David would never have allowed himself to shirk his responsibilities when he was back in the shepherd’s field, singing to God and protecting his sheep. David had allowed his life of luxury to desensitize him to his responsibilities. Even as the top dog in the land, he still had to work hard in fulfilling his responsibilities and maintaining soft heart towards God. We can learn so much from this story!
Train Yourself in Times of War
When difficult times arise, we often think that our true colors show, but as we discussed above, the true colors of a person are made explicit during times of good and plenty. Checking your spiritual pulse during times of peace will give you a more accurate reading than during times of war.
Nonetheless, we can learn much about who we are during times of crisis. When we are squeezed, what comes out? Do words of life or death and fear come out of our hearts? Does the Word of God take first place in our thoughts, or do our thoughts and beliefs clash against Biblical teaching? Are we moved by the impulses of the spirit of fear, or by the Spirit of the Living God? These are powerful questions we can ask during our quiet times with the Lord that can open up a dialogue with the Holy Spirit and can bring life-changing transformation.
What Goes in Must Come Out
In times of crisis and confusion, whatever we have deposited in our hearts and how we have trained our minds will rise to the surface. Years ago, when I was training to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), I saw a firsthand example of this very thing.
My class had recently completed several days’ training on how to treat gunshot wounds (GSWs). After studying the textbook on how to treat GSWs and other traumatic events in the field, we practiced the “real thing” with mock scenarios in which we would each take turns leading a first-response medical team who arrived on the scene to a 9-1-1 call.
Many times we would open the door to the mock scene and find the room in total disarray with upside down furniture, the room streaked with eerily life-like blood, and a whimpering victim somewhere in the mess. Sometimes the “perpetrator” would still be hiding in the room, wielding a prop knife or loaded gun, and if we did not think to “send law enforcement in” before us, we would immediately receive a failing grade from our seasoned instructors.
The very week following these grueling (and shockingly realistic) training sessions I had something incredible happen–I, myself, got shot in the leg with a 9 mm hollow point bullet! (If you aren’t familiar with firearm lingo, that is a bullet size often used in police and military applications and is extremely deadly. The “hollow point” means the bullet is particularly destructive.)
My roommate at the time was cleaning his handgun and had accidentally (it was a total freak accident) fired the gun with a live round in it–directly at my upper calf. The bullet went through the flesh and into the couch I was sitting on. The bullet missed a prominent bone by less than 1/4″ and simply went “through and through” the flesh. I could have easily lost my leg had the bullet hit the bone and shattered it.
I remember my ears ringing with the deafening report of the gunshot, the smell of gunpowder in the air, and the utter disbelief that a gun had gone off in our living room. I remember the mental fog that immediately paralyzed my mind and body. I remember feeling my leg go cold, and thinking, No way. Did that really just happen?
But suddenly, in a mere fraction of a second, as my mind wandered in a thick fog of stupor, something strong and firm rose up from deep inside–my training! My training was rising up!
I remember going through the steps of treating my own leg; almost as if I were watching someone else. My mind was sluggish to respond, but something on the inside was running the show.
My friend, who had not gone through such training, was nearly beside himself. (Well, how would you feel if you just accidentally shot your friend? I assure you, I would rather be the one who got shot!)
I remember calming him down, talking him through it, encouraging him that it would be alright and I was ok. When the paramedics showed up, they looked at me funny and said, “We don’t really need to do anything–looks like you took care of this yourself!”
Within a few hours I was discharged from the hospital, and in thirty days I was rock climbing again. In less than 45 days of the incident I ran my first half-marathon. I learned a powerful lesson through that experience: the time and effort you put into training during the “off-season” determines your performance when it really counts.
Our Training Plan
Hopefully you will never get shot, but I know that you will go through extremely trying times. What are you putting into yourself right now that will rise up during times of crisis in the future? As I write this, we find ourselves in the midst of a national crisis. Your reactions to the noise are indicative of the training you’ve put in.
If you aren’t satisfied by your response to this national panic, what does that tell you about your current training plan? We must seriously and intentionally train ourselves in the Word of God in order to not only withstand, but push back the onslaught of spiritual darkness in these last days. As believers filled with the Spirit of God, you and I have the full backing of Heaven to train up and build ourselves in “our most holy faith,” that can and will “extinguish all the fiery missiles of the wicked one.” (Jude 20, Ephesians 6:16)
Ask the Holy Spirit to quicken these truths to your heart and apply them to your situation. What does He say? What kind of training plan does He prescribe? I encourage you to spend time on this and journal your conversation with the Lord. This will enable you to keep accountable to Him (and others, if you have a battle-buddy) regarding these things.
Thank God for His Word. Thank God for a commitment to the Word of God that will stand every test and trial, no matter what comes. Even though 10,000 may fall at my right hand, I, for one, will choose to stand with the Word of God. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Psalm 91:7, Joshua 24:15)