What happens if, in warfare, the battle itself distracts you from the goal? What do you do? What if the enemy knows that simply maintaining skirmishes keeps you from succeeding, focusing on the goal – simply embroiling you in a neverending firefight until you accept it as the norm?

 

It seems the worst wars (and yes, some are worse than others) have fallen into this category. Those wars where the enemy suddenly realizes that the best reality for them is to simply maintain the war. That the only other option is to cease to exist. So – when this realization occurs it is as though the enemy has been backed up against the proverbial river that Sun Tzu speaks of – with no place to go but forward. The battle rages then with such a fierce desparation because the battle itself keeps one alive.

 

It seems to me that Satan must be in this situation. The end is clear. God has declared it to us and therefore Satan must be aware as well. This battle continues to rage with the end clearly known and declared – God has already won. In this situation Satan is backed against a lake of fire and the only thought must be to keep the fighting going – as though that buys time – and the fighting occurs with the ferocity of an army with no hope.

 

We, on the other hand are the troops assured of victory. This can lead to complacency. Not on the part of God, to be sure, but on the part of His troops. God is the good general seeking to motivate His troops and make sure they know that they have a role to play – no matter how certain the victory and that complacency can lead to casualties.

 

Our desire is to be with the general, celebrating success. But every time we focus in that direction we get nailed because the enemy is desparate. The enemy wants to keep us engaged in the battle because when our eyes are on the enemy they are off the royal standard of our Lord that gives us hope. When we have hope, we fight with focus.

 

We must not take our eyes off the Lord’s standard and His standard bearer – Christ, not for a second. When we get complacent we play into the enemy’s hands and fall for the illusion that the battle will never end…that the battle is the norm. If it seems too normal we get so complacent we are taken hostage…this is truly frightening…and avoidable.