Stop Living in Your Defeat

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Do you ever feel like you’re in a losing battle in your life?

Maybe you’re fighting a losing battle with a habit or an addiction or your battle is with a wayward child. You’ve talked with them, urged them, pleaded with them, but they persist in their unwise decisions and ungodly behavior and you don’t know what to do

Perhaps you’re seeking wisdom for a certain decision, and you’ve laid out all of the fact, sought counsel, and are still confused.

Have you considered that the battle you’re in isn’t just a battle against a substance or habit; it isn’t just a battle to see your child turn around?

Maybe the battle your in goes much deeper.

In fact, if you’re a Christian, this isn’t a “maybe” it is a fact. The battle you’re in isn’t against what you can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell.

The battle you’re in is a spiritual battle and cannot be waged with ideas, philosophies, reasoning, psychology, and affirmations.

Spiritual battles much be waged with spiritual weapons and they require a complete shift in how we view our battle and it’s outcome.

Whenever a nation on earth goes to war, they go in with a battle plan drawn up by experts that are hoping that their plan of attack – based on research and experience – will end with their victory and as few casualties as possible.

However, when we wage a spiritual battle, we don’t look at it the same way as we would an earthly battle.

We don’t go in having created our own plan of attack based on research and experience, hoping it will end in our victory with as few casualties as possible.

When God began leading the children of Israel toward the Promised Land, he promised them that he would drive out the enemy before them.

The only plan they had for battle was a plan given to them by God.

Moses and Joshua didn’t need to meet with their military experts and draw up a plan to ambush their enemies, they didn’t need to inventory their sock of weaponry and number their military.

In fact, many times they didn’t even need weapons because no fight occurred on their end. Many times God would confuse the enemy and they would fight themselves.

They could go into battle with complete confidence, knowing that the battle was only going to end one way- in their victory.

Victory had already been promised to them ahead of time.

There was no need to even consider a possible loss, because they already knew how this battle would end – in their victory and the enemy’s loss.

That is what makes 1 Chronicles 21 so confusing.

From the time David was young, he completely trusted in God’s almighty power to win his battle for him. How else can you explain a young man going against a 9-foot giant who had his entire military behind him while David had no one on his side?

The children of Israel, like cowards, were hiding in fear from Goliath. Even Saul had no confidence in their ability to conquer the Philistine army.

But David marched out in front of Goliath from a position of guaranteed victory knowing that this battle would only end in Israel’s victory and Goliath’s defeat.

And God won the victory.

There was no need to inventory weaponry or take count of their military – because none of that was even needed.

God would fight for them – no matter how big or small their military and store or weapons would be.

David is now much older and dear sister, with age doesn’t always come wisdom. His faith has grown brittle and worn.

He no longer has the bold confidence in God’s promises like he did before.

Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel…Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword.

1 Chronicles 21:1, 5

Why would it matter how many men drew the sword if they already knew ahead of time that no matter the size of their army, they would win the battle?

Only a nation unsure of the outcome would concern themselves with the size of their army; to determine whether or not negotiating with the enemy would be a better strategy than war.

But God hadn’t called Israel to negotiate with her enemy, God had called her to defeat her enemy.

And she wouldn’t have to do it with military strategy, weaponry, and an army that outsized her enemy. She would do it by the supernatural strength of almighty God.

Dear sister, as God’s children we don’t fight our battles from a position of hoping we’ll win our battles!

We fight from a position of promised victory. Every time! Every single time! We don’t have to hope, beg, or plead with God for our victory – it has already been promised to us through his word and God never goes back on his promise.

Through God we will do valiantly,

For it is He who shall tread down our enemies

Psalm 60:12

We don’t fight our battles the same way the world fights it’s battles.

We don’t fight our battles through psychology, self-help, speaking affirmations, eastern meditation, 12-steps, reiki, spirit guides, energy healing, or any other worldly philosophy this world uses.

We fight our battles supernaturally, with spiritual weapons and from a position of guaranteed victory.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Not only do we not use the weapons this world uses to fight our battles, our weapons actually defeat and destroy these worldly weapons.

The weapons of this world are already powerless against the weapons of spiritual warfare!

Dear sisters, if you are feeling defeated and as if you’re fighting a losing battle right now, perhaps you’re not fighting your battle in the spirit from a position of victory.

Spiritual warfare is normal Christian living, but defeat is not.

Defeat is never normal for the believer.

David numbered the men of Israel to see how many men drew the sword, and this was God’s response to him:

And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:7

Anytime we fight our spiritual battles from a place of intellectuality, mysticism, idolatry, and worldly philosophy, it leads to defeat.

Oh, we may gain some measure of confidence, and we may even see what seems initially to be victory, but let us remember that the enemy cannot bring victory when his defeat is already guaranteed!

If we fight spiritual battles with carnal weapons, we will always end in defeat.

Spiritual battles must be fought with weapons of spiritual warfare and in complete confidence in God’s promise that we go forth valiantly knowing that we’re fighting from a place of guaranteed victory.

I challenge you today, if you’re in a spiritual battle, begin to study what God’s Word says about spiritual warfare, begin to memorize and meditate on key verses and passages, and then spend some time in repentance if you’ve been battling with carnal weapons.

God will turn this around for you, if you do.

Resources for Spiritual Warfare