(1 Peter 5:8 NASB)
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
(Psalm 23:5; Galatians 5:16)
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
(Galatians 5:16 NASB)
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
It is true that in the death and resurrection of Jesus the war against Satan was won; but it is also true that until the end of this age comes, the battles are still being fought every day. Though defeated, the enemy offers stiff resistance, and even though the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, the enemy still tries to take out individuals in this comic conflict. Like a roaring lion looking for prey, the evil one longs to devour a person’s spiritual life, and testimony. Circumstances and situations happen around us, and the enemy uses the storms of life to try to take us down. The demonic at times fiercely stirs up our flesh to bring us into places of defeat, and discouragement.
Over the years I’ve been required to travel a lot by car, particularly throughout the southeast, on ministry assignments, and there been a number of times when traveling interstates I’ve encountered great storms and torrential rains. What I’ve noticed over the years is how often people will pull over, onto the shoulders of roads and under overpasses, waiting for the storms to pass by. I don’t know whether somebody taught me, or if it’s just something I discovered on my own, but whenever I’ve encountered those kind of storms while traveling, I just commit to keep moving forward, even if at a very slow pace, because I know that I will eventually drive out of the storm. I found a real principle in this when under spiritual warfare; and that is, to simply keep moving one step at a time, trusting Jesus, and eventually I will walk out of the storm. The psalm 23, and Galatians 5 operative word, is “WALK.” When you find yourself in the midst of a great difficulty that feels like the shadow of death you must just keep walking in the spirit, one step at a time trusting Jesus. When under intense spiritual assault, where temptations are raging within you, you must just take the next step and walk in the spirit, trusting Jesus. I’m not saying to roll up your sleeves and just gut it out one more step; instead, I am saying, just keep moving forward one small step at a time in the spirit, that is, trusting Jesus for victory one more step. It’s imperative that you don’t stop when under assault, and listen to what the enemy is saying, or try to evaluate the emotional and spiritual landscape. And if you have fallen down in the midst of the battle, it is also imperative that you don’t stay in that fallen place, full of introspection and guilt, but instead, you must get up and take a step trusting Jesus, and then take the next step, and the next, etc., until you have walked out of the storm. Again, we can’t stop and listen to the enemy, or try to take your spiritual temperature, or ask a bunch of “why’s,” because if we do we can get stuck there. You must just keep walking one step at a time in faith. If you do I promise you that you will walk out of that valley that carries the shadow of death, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. You will walk out of the storm, though the storm a rage for a period of time. Just keep moving, thanking Jesus for his victory, putting one foot spiritually in front of the next.