Why?

"Why?" I asked the Lord one morning as I gathered my Bible and bundle of things I use during my morning devotion time. "Why has getting up early been so hard lately?"

"It's a spiritual fight. You're being fought." I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit. 

"Oh..."

There's nothing that quite brings up my sassy attitude and stubborn hard-headedness as when my eyes clear and I see the enemy's tactics for what they are.

When I was younger, I used to fear the fight. I was afraid of what the enemy might throw my way. Now, I smile a bit when he comes at me or my family. It's not that I enjoy it, I don't. But I know what it means. It means we are on the right track. It means he is scared of what God is doing. It means he is scared of what God will do through us. 

People always talk about how cunning or smart he is, but I beg to differ. The enemy is an idiot. After thousands of years, being thrown down from Heaven, after being fought by Jesus - whom he thought he had killed (side trail for a moment and imagine with me the celebration in hell when Jesus died on the cross coming to a complete halt when Jesus walks in to fight death, hell, and the grave... Alright moving on). As I was saying, the enemy just doesn't get it. It's like he missed kindergarten of angelic school. Jesus wins. Every. Single. Time. Yeah the fight hurts. Yes he sometimes gets us to believe his lies. But we are children of the Most High King. One day our Heavenly Father will bind that sorry liar for eternity. One day we will never have to endure these fights again because we will see the fruits of what Jesus finished on the cross. "It is finished" didn't just mean Jesus had died to save us from sin, it meant Jesus had won. Everything. The curse of sin, the curse that happened way back in Genesis was no longer the ruling power on Earth. Jesus paid the price of that curse so we didn't have to. 

The enemy does come like a flood, but my God. 

The enemy does throw fiery darts at us, but my God. 

The enemy does has years of experience and can often read us like open books, but my God. 

My God gives us a way of escape. 

My God puts a shield of protection around His children. 

My God fights for us. 

So in moments like these, I stand a little taller and say, "Go ahead enemy. Just realize, you aren't fighting just this little piece of flesh that will die one day. You're fighting someone who knows the King of King's armies back her up.