Principle:  There will always be an enemy.
Principle:  We operate from a position of victory.
Principle:  There is value in the battle.

So why an enemy in the first place?  Good question!  One that I found an answer for in Judges 3:1 - 11.  Let's go back to our good friends, the Israelites.  When they reached the place God had promised them, full of full-time residents, they had to fight.  These enemies were left (God did it on purpose) to test Israel.  In fact, if I may quote Judges 3:2, "He (God) did it to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience with battle."

Enemies test two questions:
Will I obey God?
Will I believe God?

Without an enemy, Israel would never know the meaning of faith.  Faith is faith only when it is tested.  The enemy was designed to be used by God to test their faith and their belief in what God had already told them.  They were positioned for victory:  You will take the land.  Test came.  They didn't fight their enemy.  Long-term, their lack of fighting their enemy caused them to sin.  Instead of positioning themselves as Victors, they assumed the position of Victim.

Ok, ok - this all sounds so holy.  Obey God.  Believe what He says.  Yadda yadda.  Real life example I'm right in the middle of:  health.

I have faced the enemy of food for years.  Sounds weird, doesn't it?  Something designed to nourish - when misused - can serve to destroy.  I know that in 2000, God did something in my heart that changed the way I look at food.  However, my aging body has done things - like morph and transition - that frankly freaks me out.  Years of labeling foods as "unclean" and "forbidden" have reduced my metabolism to a less than stellar functioning organ that results in a body that refuses to budge in size.  The amount of food I eat should not result in the size of my jeans.

Just keeping it real, but I really don't like what I see in the mirror.  Another long-term enemy that I know God is battling.  My role is to keep fighting.  So what does fighting look like?:

1.  Every time I hear the Holy Spirit tell me to eat something I have put on my "forbidden" list - I eat it.
2.  Every time I look in the mirror and start condemning each flaw I see - I reject what feels like truth.
3.  Every time I go out for a walk - I pray.  I pray that health trumps pant size and the joy of health will trump the temporary high of a reduced number of the scale.
4.  I trust God even when I see no result.
5.  I believe God when He tells me what He thinks of me (Truth) - even if I don't think the same thing (Fact).

You see it's acts of obedience in the face of what you normally do - and have done - that fights our enemies.  And then - because God is for us, has placed us in positions of victory, and is fighting for us - something happens.  If you've fought your own battle then you know about what I'm talking .  Warriors have moments when they see the enemy defeated without explanation.  When what I do (that should not be enough to destroy something way bigger than myself) is defeated, I know that something supernatural has taken place.  God comes in.  He fights the battle.  When what I knew would take years of "work" and effort is completed effortlessly, I know God showed up.

Today I battle by putting on my yoga pants, sleeveless work out top, running shoes, and my brave face to go walk.  Tomorrow, I know victory comes.  Just as a gal named Deborah in Judges 4 believed God for victory, I believe the same promise she was given:  "Get ready!  The Lord is marching ahead of you."  It may not come tomorrow, or the next day, but it WILL come.  And believing this truth is a battle won!!

Warrior Princess,
Christina