“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
II Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
Everybody in life has trials and struggles and difficult days. It’s just part of living and will be until we finally get to meet Jesus face to face. I believe that those trials, which are part of “living,” have a purpose and that purpose is to build our “choice” muscles.
Every one of us has a choice when faced with a difficulty. We can take the easy way out or we can make the right choice, which is sometimes the hard choice. I was faced with such a situation earlier this year. When it occurred, the first thought I had was grace for the others involved. Not so much for myself and the part I played in the situation (I’m my worst judge), but for the others involved. God gave me compassion and forgiveness and by the end of the day, it was over.
Except it wasn’t. That’s when the enemy stepped in and engaged me in a fierce mental battle but again, I had a choice. Was I going to engage, reliving the situation over and over in my mind, replaying the conversation to myself – or was I going to take every thought captive and not let the enemy get the upper hand? I knew this wasn’t about the situation I dealt with the day before – it went much deeper than that and it was about which choice would I make, not just today but going forward, because when I give the enemy a foothold, he likes to run wild. After all, the Bible clearly tells us that he is like a prowling lion, seeking to kill, steal and destroy. (John 10:10, I Peter 5:8)
However, the part I love about this battle is that I’ve battled a few times with the enemy and he is pretty predictable. He may mix things up slightly, but his weapons are fairly similar. And I had a secret weapon – God and I are closer now than we were when I first starting fighting these types of battles with the enemy, so I knew I could call on Him and He would send reinforcements. And He did … in the form of two specific songs. One song which we sing at church often and the other one being a song I hear on the radio occasionally.
Come back next time and I will share with you how this particular battle ended.
© Cheri Swalwell 2018