In Sun Tzu classic, The Art of War, he states “The art of war is essential to the state… it is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.” As I think about what he has to say I can see how the art of war is essential to the state of the soul, do we wage war against evil, temptation and sin in our lives, and in the lives of others? Or do we sit by passively, watching, but in reality, we are then just causalities of war, not victors.
Or maybe we fight the wrong enemy; we fight against those we live with, those we call friends, those in our family, or those we come into contact with that we disagree on many issues. But is that the real enemy? Ephesians 6:12 says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We usually fight against those who are not the true enemy, but at times, looks like the enemy; they maybe a pawn, so we tend to fight against them, the flesh and blood of Ephesians 6:12, instead of the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We fight with hurtful words, attitudes, coldness, or harshness against those we are called to love. We become distracted by the wrong enemy, while we need to fight on our knees in prayer, against a foe we cannot win against in our own strength.
Our fight is with the wrong in our own life, the sin which lives in us, the enemy that lives within us, the flesh. We also fight against the system of the world that tries to convince us what we need to do or be. From what we should own, how we should treat one another, and how we need to succeed at the cost of others. The world longs for us to live in a way that contrast what Scripture says in how to live. And then we have our greatest foe, the devil, who uses each one of these against us, he also uses those in our lives to wage war with us at times, and he entices our own desires, and thoughts. “For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:16)
Going back to the book, The Art of War, the chapter is called Laying Plans. So how are you waging war today? What plans are you laying with the Spirit to fight against your enemies? Or are you waging war at all, just being another causality of the enemy. Maybe you don’t look wounded, but you’re hindered by the ineffectiveness of sitting on the sidelines watching, waiting, for someone else to win the battle. A prayerless life, a silent witness, or a loss of hope, are all signs of passivity when it comes to a spiritual fight. We need to remember that God has won the war, it is He who we rely on, but it is He who calls us to do our part, and let Him do His. So are you laying plans, or just laying back?
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