Life’s a real struggle; it’s a battle. Most of us have made such a statement at one time or another — and possibly very recently! Why does life have to be so difficult? Nothing seems to come easily; life is filled with frustrations. We have our good moments, and even some whole days may go rather pleasantly, but then it’s back to having problems again.

There was a song years ago with the line, “It’s a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack.” It certainly is! For the next six weeks we’re going to look at this messed-up world of ours and try to make sense of it. It seems only appropriate that we describe this world as a war zone.

LIVING IN A TIME OF WAR
What’s it like living in a time of war? I’ve heard stories about what it was like during World War II. I did some research on the internet and I talked with Gaines and Marie Ellison. Gaines served in the war and Marie experienced it here at home.

First of all, Toledo became a center for producing many products for the war. Usual manufacturing was greatly reduced in order for plants to turn out products that were necessary to fight the war. Propeller blades were manufactured at what’s now the GM transmission plant. The Electric Auto-Lite Company produced bomb nose fuses and detonating fuses. Tank transmissions were made here, and of course so was the famous Jeep.

Rubber was in very short supply and gas was rationed, primarily to keep people from using up tires because of the shortage of rubber. There were ration stamps for food; sugar was in particularly short supply. This resulted in very few weddings having wedding cakes during the war years. Silk stockings couldn’t be found; the silk was used instead to manufacture parachutes.

Trains and train stations operated without lights in Washington State, where Marie Ellison was at the time, for fear the enemy would fly in from the Pacific and find an easy target. No cars were manufactured during the war, so you’ll find very few, if any, antique cars from the mid-forties. War creates the need to live differently from the way we do during peace.

People were willing to make sacrifices during World War II because it was an unusual time. However, what about areas of the world where war goes on and on? What about the children born in such war zones? Try to imagine how they must view life, not knowing anything different.

We’ve all seen images of children playing around the wreckage of war and playing on implements of war like destroyed tanks. They play “war,” mimicking life the way they’ve always known it. According to a study by Queen’s University, over 90% of Palestinian children were traumatized by the war, though they’ve never lived without war. War must seem normal to them, because they have nothing to compare it to. On one hand the children raised in an ongoing war zone see life as normal, but on the other hand they’re traumatized by it — because war isn’t normal.

LIFE’S A BATTLE ZONE
The experience of children in an ongoing war zone is very comparable to our experience, because according to God’s revealed Word we live in an ongoing spiritual war zone: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) Because we experience this all the time, it seems normal and we aren’t always aware that we’re involved in an ongoing spiritual conflict. In fact, according to a 2005 Harris poll over 82% of people believe in God but only 61% believe in the devil. There’s significant denial in our modern culture that there’s a literal spiritual battle going on between the force of good (God) and the force of evil (Satan).

Even those of us who believe in the existence of the Evil One are constantly surprised when bad things happen and evil rears its ugly head. We’re surprised — as if we didn’t expect it to happen. It seems to me that most of us live without a real sense that a spiritual war is going on and that we’re in the middle of it, yet we all feel traumatized: filled with fears, disappointments, hurts, anger, depression, and a host of other emotions and attitudes that are present when people find themselves in serious conflict.

The Bible makes it clear that there is indeed a spiritual battle going on. The source of this conflict is Satan: Lucifer, the Devil, the Evil One. He apparently was a created angelic being. In a previous time this created order, which we now call angels, had free choice — much as we do now.

Many scholars feel that the reference in the 14th chapter of the book of Isaiah is a dual reference, referring to the king of Babylon and to Satan: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)

The book of Revelation contains imagery of Satan as a dragon: “His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.” (Revelation 12:4) Satan was cast out of the heavenly presence of God, and apparently a third of the heavenly hosts of that created order of beings chose to go with him. Since then Satan has been hell-bent on destroying anything good of God’s, including God’s world and God’s people.

Satan’s final demise hasn’t happened yet; in the meantime he exhibits an evil influence over all of God’s creation. Jesus referred to Satan as “the prince of this world.” (John 14:30) The apostle Paul referred to Satan as “the god of this age.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) Paul wrote that there exists “a dominion of darkness.” (Colossians 1:13)

Part of the battle is waged beyond us, out of our sight. There’s an intriguing incident in the story of Daniel: Daniel had gone through a time of prayer and fasting for three weeks, seeking an answer from God. Finally an angel appeared to him. Daniel described him this way: “I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.” (Daniel 10:5-6) The angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.” (Daniel 10:12-13)

This is a rare, amazing glimpse into the unseen spiritual battle that’s going on, with God’s angels in direct conflict with Satan’s fallen angelic forces (which we usually call demons). It’s a cosmic battle of epic proportions that we can’t even begin to fathom.

This cosmic battle has as its main battleground the dwelling place of people. We were made in God’s image; we’re His children, His beloved. This makes us the primary target of the Evil One. Amazing as it is, this cosmic battle isn’t being fought in some distant galaxy or even spread all over this ever-expanding universe. It’s focused right here on earth because this is the dwelling place of God’s favorite part of His creation: human beings who have been made in His image and who now can be potentially redeemed back into His image.

The created world itself has been profoundly affected. The apostle Paul wrote, “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21)

We’re the biggest target of the Evil One; we’re the major battleground. The apostle Peter knew all about making mistakes, and he denied Jesus three times during Jesus’ trial. He wrote, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) When Satan gets to us, he really causes problems. Paul wrote, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” (Ephesians 2:12)

THE BATTLE WITHOUT AND WITHIN
Part of the battle against us is outside of us: that is, it just happens to us. Disease hits us, people hurt us, political and economic systems are unjust, and death hits close to home. Remember, all these things come from the enemy.

God never does evil. In this war zone where we live, what happens to us isn’t the result of friendly fire!

The Evil one is the source of all pain and suffering, alienated relationships, disease, and death. This Evil One not only attacks us from without, he attacks us from within.

Jeremiah the prophet declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) We’re often our own worst enemies. Who of us hasn’t looked back with 20/20 vision and said, “Why couldn’t I see that?”

The battle is taking place within us. Paul wrote, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21) There isn’t one of us who hasn’t struggled with several of the things on that list.

All of these things start within us. The human heart is the ultimate battleground between good and evil. Just this week the famous radio “shock jock” Imus was fired for making a racial slur on the air. His defense included the statement “I am a good person.” He’s wrong: the Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10) Though what Imus said was horrible, and he deserves to be fired, we all need to pray, “O, dear God, what’s wrong with my heart? Forgive me and heal me. Reclaim the ground of my heart for You: take it back from the enemy.”

TAKING A REALISTIC PERSPECTIVE
It’s a war zone out there, and in me, too — and, if I might be so bold as to suggest, also within you! We’re in no position to live well until we take the realistic view that there’s a spiritual battle going on. That fact explains a lot of our experiences.

Next week we’ll explore more specifically how to fight the battles without and within us. Right now, we need to know that when we align ourselves with the Lord we’ll ultimately be all right! Paul wrote, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10) Turn yourself over to the Lord anew, and stay close to Him. He alone can help you fight your life’s battles so that you can win!

The apostle John, in his first letter in the New Testament, wrote about these conflicting spirits of evil and good. He concluded, “You, dear brothers, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

Remember,
the One (Jesus) who is in you
is greater than the one
who is in the world!