Not A Coincidence

For the sake of my own comfort and to avoid vulnerability, I’d really rather start this off citing some statistic on body image and how many people struggle with their weight or their face or their hair (or lack thereof) or teeth (or lack thereof) or height (or lack thereof). 

I think you already know that, though, and I think if I asked you to name your own top three worst physical flaws, you could do it faster than you could remember what you ate for breakfast yesterday. 

This is not a post on body image. 

Can you guess the times I’ve hated my body most in the last decade or so? It’s not in a bathing suit, it’s not in a dressing room, and it’s not when something that used to fit doesn’t anymore. 

It’s been right before some of the most spiritually powerful worship services I’ve led. 

Coincidence? That in the moments before I’m about to present my body to a congregation, there’s an enemy whispering lies about how it’s not good enough? That when I should be preparing my soul, I can only focus on how bad these jeans look on me? 

Of course the devil would want me to hate the body about to lift its hands to Jesus.

On the day you need to be a little extra patient and understanding to your spouse, of course your good-looking coworker is paying a little extra attention to you.

On the day your children need a kind, safe space, of course traffic is slow and you spill your coffee and you keep dropping things and your hair won’t cooperate. 

On what would be day 89 of your Bible reading streak, of course Netflix is batting its pretty little eyes at you, beckoning you to the next episode.

It’s not a coincidence. It’s because we’re being targeted. 

You don’t have to do “church work” like preaching or Sunday school teaching or worship leading to be doing spiritual work subject to spiritual warfare. Your home, your workplace, your classroom, and your car are spiritual places because we are spiritual beings using them. 

The devil isn’t creative; he’s repetitive. In all the ways that God is the great Creator and makes things new, the devil has to resort to the same old (albeit strategic) tricks. And the problem is—they work on us. He is an expert deceiver. 

But, we’re on the winning side. Never, ever forget that when we’re aligned to Christ, we’re on the winning side: the side of truth and abundant life. 

Here are a few things you can try the next time (and I promise you, there will be a next time) you’re under attack: 

1. Recognize and remind yourself you’re being targeted. The more we blame other people, ourselves, and God for the problems in our life, the more the enemy wins. Call out the devil’s tactics.

2. Confess to God and to people you trust. Struggles in the dark fester. They isolate and deteriorate you. Struggles brought into the light get lighter. Prayer is a first line of defense, not a last resort. 

3. Employ the full armor of God. Truth. Righteousness. Peace. Faith. Salvation. Scripture. We were never promised easy, but we are promised that we will not fight this thing alone. I don’t know about you, but personally, I’d rather face the forces of evil and darkness with the Creator of the Universe by my side. 

Oh, and maybe try listening to You’ve Already Won.