The Secret War

On any given day, much of our world is involved in a war. Whether it is a war with soldiers and military equipment, a drug war among gangs in the inner city, or a terror attack, you do not have to go far to find violence in the world. But there is another war that I call the Secret War. This is the war that rages within yourself every day. This is a war of strategy, choices and monumental decisions.

Most of us wander through this war with very little thought or preparation. We don’t understand the enemy. We don’t see his activity clearly, and we don’t know how to respond. Battles are lost before we even know they are happening.

Some would say that it’s a war between good and evil, the “force” or the “dark side” to use the popular movie analogy. But that is an over simplification and doesn’t get to the heart of the problem. This war is actually a territorial war. The war is between God, the one who made you, and Satan, the one who wants to take you away from God. It is a war over who will control your life, and this war rages 24/7.

God is the giver of life and freedom, even to those born into slavery, poverty or physical disability. Each person is given the opportunity and the ability to make choices about who they are, what their attitudes will be, and whom they will serve.

Let me be clear. The God that I am speaking of is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is not the god of Islam or Tao or any other religion of the world. All “gods” are not the same. His nature and character are totally different from any other so-called god.

He is the creator of the universe and the one who has created you. He has given order to the universe and established cause and effect, action and consequences. He gives you breath and sustains you with everything you need for life.

God is active and involved with His entire creation, to the point that He actually entered into the world as Jesus Christ—to teach us how to live, to take upon Himself the consequences of our bad choices, and to give us the power to overcome the enemy. He has given us a free will and the choice of whom we will serve and how we will live this life. We can choose to make Him the Lord of our lives, or we can choose to do things our own way and try to control our lives.

This is the key to the war. We think we can do things our own way, that we are in control. But in reality, if that is what we think, we have become prisoners of war. We have accepted the lie of the enemy, who is Satan.

Satan is the great deceiver, a master of spin, lies and manipulation. As long as he can keep you from acknowledging the Lordship of God, your creator, then you are his prisoner, his POW. You become his slave and he works to control your activity and your attitude. Most of what Satan does, he does in your head. He distorts your thinking, your feelings, your emotions, your attitude and your responses. He will stop at nothing to turn you against God.

You are the battleground of this war. You ultimately decide who will control your life. You serve God or you serve Satan. You cannot be undecided. Indecision is a vote for Satan.

The good news is that at any point in your life, you can choose to profess your allegiance to God through Jesus Christ. When you do that, His power and His authority as God of the universe gives you the ability to break the hold of Satan on your life. This is the beginning of your true freedom. You are no longer a POW. However, that is not the end of the war. From that point on, Satan is constantly fighting to gain back control over your life.

This issue of control of your life is crucial for both now and for eternity. You matter to God. Everything you do matters to God. He loves you with an everlasting love. He knows you’re not perfect, but He loves you anyway. He wants the best for you and your well-being. He knows you better than you know yourself because He created you. He offers you a world of opportunities and possibilities.

Once you trust God and give your allegiance to Him, you then have the power of God to help you win the battles in your life. You have His guidance to make decisions and He gives you a glimpse of His perspective and the much larger scheme of things. You have His presence to hold you up when you don’t think you can go any farther. You can depend upon Him to have your back when you are blindsided. God will always be there to give you the direction, the courage and the tools you need to win the battle. The more you rely on Him, the more victories you will have.

That doesn’t mean that things will go the way you want them to go. That means that God is in control and He holds the ultimate victory, even when you don’t understand what is really happening.