Losing the Battle? Win the War!

No army has ever gone "undefeated."  There are countless skirmishes which make up a war, and it is possible to lose a battle but still win the war.  Today felt like one of those losing days in a spiritual sense.  I find an object lesson in my own hands.  On any given day of mechanical insulation, I usually come through without any injuries whatsoever.  Occasionally I will have a scrape or cut, or possibly feel fatigued after a particularly taxing day of work.  As I wrapped duct this morning, I cut my finger on a 20-gauge stud:  it was the kind that make your toes curl!  Someone had taken a grinder to the metal until it was rough and razor sharp.  I felt it before I saw it.  Thankfully it was in a fairly decent spot and not too deep.  When I came home I had several cuts on my hands to clean with my old standby, hydrogen peroxide.

I believe we set ourselves up for failure if we believe we will have victory every moment of every single day over the temptations thrown at us.  Yes, the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin, and through the Holy Spirit we can daily walk in the victory Jesus has granted by His grace.  But no matter how pure our motives and focused our efforts we will sometimes fail.  Today the spiritual battle was particularly tough and I look back on the day with clear knowledge of my failures.  I feel like Satan ambushed me a couple times and nailed me with a few cheap shots.  Like the sharp metal, I was cut before I noticed.  It seems there were more skirmishes lost than won.  Satan would use this to encourage me to give up or give in.  Never!  I must run to Christ in repentance, for it is only in Him I have strength, protection, forgiveness, and power to glorify God.

On a normal day of work, we can expect fatigue.  When I first started working in the trade, I was working 7 days a week 12 hours a day at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo.  That meant waking up at 3am, picking up my brother, driving to El Segundo to be there for a 5:45am pick-up.  We worked stripping asbestos in a boiler for at least 9 or 10 hours a day wearing a full-face respirator in containment in the heat of summer.  At 6pm we were driven out, gassed up the truck, and arrived home by about 8:30pm.  There was just enough time to eat a little dinner, kiss my newlywed wife goodnight, and go to sleep.  3am came EARLY the next morning and the cycle started again!  Thankfully this schedule after a couple weeks was changed to 6 days a week 10 hours a day.  I felt like a new man after Sunday!  Well, for a while anyway.  As work changes in scope and duration from day to day, Satan's bombardment of our minds is not always the same.  Some times there are periods of rest from the shelling, but other times it can stretch into days seemingly without end.

Here is the point:  where there is an open door, there are many adversaries.  When we decide to live for Jesus Christ, Satan works overtime to cause us to stumble in sin.  As we draw closer to God in prayer and devotion, the enemy of our souls seeks to disrupt us more than ever.  He wants to beat down our resolve, and cause us to neglect the care and condition of our spiritual armor.  What good is a misplaced shield of faith, or a cracked helmet of salvation?  What does it profit to strap the boots of the preparation of the Gospel of peace on our feet if they are filled with holes?  A rusty sword of the Spirit tends to be stuck dull and useless in the sheath.  The spiritual battle can wear us down and can be overwhelming when we just do our best.  We need to abide in Christ or we will fall prey to the devil's fiery darts.

The failures of today need not translate into failures tomorrow.  Take every failure before the LORD, case by case.  Spell out each fault:  each profane thought, each time our hearts wandered and our eyes followed, every outburst of wrath, all judgments, and anything He reveals to us.  It is in this confession and repentance where the victory is won.  For all his skirmishes he has won, Satan remains a defeated foe.  We can be valiant and stouthearted in Christ, knowing that we are more than conquerors through Him.  No weapon fashioned against us shall stand because the battle belongs to the LORD.  Claim the victory in Christ, and stand strong in the LORD and in the power of His might.