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This topic has been on my mind and since my wrists have been recovering quite nicely, I figure that I should post this here for everyone to read.

Now, in your life right now you may have troubles, you may have also had troubles in the past, and it's likely that you'll encounter troubles in the future and why is this? It's because of spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare can be difficult to think about, especially if it's a tight situation where we feel it may be hopeless. A situation may seem and feel helpless when one feels that they may lose someone important in their life such as a family member, friend, spouse, etc. Or something important to them such as their home, their car, their freedom, etc.

What you must know about spiritual warfare is that it is spiritual for a reason. We are at war with the evil parts of the spiritual realm that try to tempt us, tear our lives to shreds, and/or pull us away from God. We can't just call the police on the phone and say, "Help! Satan is trying to tempt me! Make him stop!" Because the world would think we are insane and there is no physical evidence to prove so. So what do we do?

We put on the full armor of God!



Now that we are using God's armor and being sure we use it properly, we must not grow weary. If we grow weary, we can become vulnerable to the enemy's (Satan's) tricks and Satan can convince people that things are hopeless and to give up. Right now, you may be praying for somebody to receive Christ, you may be praying for a healing in a relationship, you may be praying not to lose your home, you may be praying to survive through the night. Whatever it may be that you are standing for and praying about - there is HOPE in God!



As human beings we sometimes feel that we pray and pray, read God's word, and do everything we are able and feel hopeless because we aren't seeing any physical evidence of God working in our lives or the lives of others. Hopelessness comes from the enemy. We need to trust in God that he is working through what we ask. We need to accept God's timing because his timing is perfect. Sometimes we want an "instant" cure for things, but sometimes the more instant, the more it can hurt as I once heard a wise man say. God gives us hope and nothing is impossible through him!

We must remember to keep delighting in good and to keep doing good and not to ever give up! Growing weary allows Satan to get a grip while we are feeling worn out. Jesus was even tempted by Satan when Satan thought He would be vulnerable.



Sometimes in life there will be those moments where we are standing firm in God and waiting for something to happen, then something amazing happens - nothing short of a miracle, then it seems like the miracle didn't last as long as we had hoped. For example:



Perhaps you can even recall a time where you experienced a situation similar to this and perhaps you gave up and perhaps you didn't. Perhaps you felt discouraged that this miraculous happening seemed short-lived and perhaps you got back up and started praying to God even more and reading his word, and perhaps you never did get back up.

Realize that when a miraculous happening occurs (like Reilly going to church in my example above) that Satan wants this whole thing to fail. When we bring God into our battle, God will always reign victorious! Satan had a hold of Reilly in the example above so he is going through a battle himself and Shirley's prayers is giving God a channel to work through to help Reilly see the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Reilly felt inspired to go to church that miraculous day so he went, but when he stopped going again he may have fallen back into Satan's trap since Satan has still a slight grip on the situation. When it seems we have a victory, or a victory is getting close - pray even more! Read your word even more! At this point, it means that Satan knows that he is losing his grip on the situation - he's losing his control because of our Almighty God! God is winning, and you must keep praying and stand firm! Satan will play every card he has to make the situation seem worse to the one who has been standing and praying when a victory is just around the corner! Not every victory is going to be an "instant" thing. So we must not grow weary and keep asking the Lord for strength! God always wins and good always triumphs over evil!

As Christians we will suffer and sometimes things will be painful or difficult before they are better.

As human beings, it's easy to feel discouraged, and being discouraged is what Satan smiles at because he see's vulnerability. I have felt discouraged many times and when I catch myself being discouraged, I give all my cares to God because it's in His hands and do my absolute best to accept His timing because His timing is always perfect!

Also, thank you for the prayers. Things have been improving greatly!

Same here =) I'm much more at peace now although that's not an excuse to get too comfortable, either =P gotta keep praying and reading God's word.

Thanks =)

Ha, never heard of the Iron Man reference before, that's a pretty nice correlation! And the best way to flip the tables on Satan is to stand on the Word of God. Notice how the only offensive weapon in the Armor of God is the sword of the Word. Satan HATES it when we stand on God's promises. When we rely on our own strength, sometimes Satan uses that to ensnare us. But, when we use the all powerful word of God, Satan doesn't stand a chance! Just look in the New Testament when Satan actually tried to tempt Jesus after he fasted 40 days and nights. All of Jesus' responses were quotes from scripture. Therefore, we should do likewise biggrin