Behind Enemy Lines

I have been experiencing some attacks from the enemy the last couple of weeks that have just been nearly unbearable and caused me to want to just run and hide.  It took me several days of asking the Lord continually "Why Me?!"  Very quietly, and after many tears, I heard the Holy Spirit say, "Because you are behind enemy lines."

That is not the answer I was expecting to hear.  Then I began thinking about what being behind enemy lines actually means.  During war time, it means that a soldier has been separated from his or her unit and is caught in enemy territory with no friendlies in sight.  The soldier must survive on his own in many cases and avoid capture by the enemy while he was unprotected in their territory.  I wondered how this applied to me....this being behind enemy lines. 

It can be easy to get comfortable when things in my life are going well.  I can let my guard down and not put on the armor of God each day.  I might not pray as earnestly, as frequently, as earnestly as I do when things are not going as they should.  I have to remember though, I am not to be part of this world, but yet live in this world.  Since I am not part of this world, then I am in enemy territory.  I am in a land that I do not belong in.   

John17:15-18

15 - I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
16 - They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 - Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth. 
18 - As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them.

We have been sent into this world by Jesus.  He prayed on our behalf that His Father would sanctify us by His truth.  The word is our sanctification and our protection.  Being sanctified doesn't change the fact that we walk every day in a foreign land, a foreign kingdom ruled by principalities and powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)  As we walk in this foreign land with the spiritual dangers all around us, we must:

1 Peter 5:8

8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

If the devil  is constantly on the prowl for victims, then how do we walk through each day in this world?

1 Peter 5:9

9 - Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 

We know we are not alone in what we suffer each day.  Sometimes we feel like we don't have the strength to fight, to stand against the enemy.  Maybe we feel like a Mac truck has run us over, backed up, and run us over again.  I know I feel that way from time to time.  What do we do then?  We hide.

Psalm 32:7

7 - You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

How do we hide in Him?  We ask.

Psalm 17:8-9

8 - Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
9 - From the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me.  

In Psalm chapter 17, the Psalmist goes on to cry a prayer that I myself have uttered many times...

13 - Arise, O Lord, Confront him, cast him down; deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,
14 - with Your hand from men, O Lord, from men of the world who have their portion in this life, and whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure.

Asking the Lord for protection, for deliverance, and to be hidden in Him is the key to surviving in a land we do not belong in.  We cannot fight the enemy in our own strength.  We have been given weapons and armor for spiritual warfare, but we still live in a world with an enemy that seeks our destruction on a daily basis.  Letting our guard down and walking through the days of our lives without protection and without the power of prayer makes us an easy target and the enemy will strike when we least expect it. 

The word of God is our weapon, our comfort, our answer to absolutely everything we encounter each day and it must be an integral part of our daily lives.