The spiritual walk or spiritual life does not move smoothly. A graph of such a life does not stay on a normal curve;
it has ups and downs
We are on the Spiritual Front Lines.
What is spiritual fluctuation meaning? The enemy is in front of us. He is very tactful, deceptive, cunning and crafty. He never wants us to move forward in a smooth fashion. He places many hurdles in our race of faith.
He uses many tactics, crafty tactics according to the weakness of an individual. He is very skillful and knows each believer’s weakness. When he finds an opportunity, he launches his assault on the believer. So we must be on high alert so that when he attacks, we may be able to protect ourselves with the help of God almighty and His beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his precious blood on the Cross to save us from sin and the devil, death and demons.
Our enemy attacks a believer with slothfulness, idolatrous living, and laziness. He brings thoughts of inferiority and uselessness. He accuses the believer by saying, “Oh you child of God! You are a total failure. You are useless. You have achieved nothing spiritually; you are just wasting your life, time and energy. You are nothing.” He brings our morale and courage down to a very low note.
Sometimes our enemy is successful, sometimes he is defeated when we stand against him in the name of Jesus and rebuke him in the mighty name of our Redeemer. He can be defeated when we say to him, “Get behind me, O Satan!” By the help of God we can put him to shame.
He hovers above us. He attacks our thought patterns. This war is going on secretly, nobody knows it. People around us are unaware of what we are going through or experiencing. Our mind is the battleground of the enemy. But at the same time God’s serving angels, the ministering spirits whom God has appointed to help us in the time of need, also come into action. They stand for us, they stand with us and beside us, and fight for us against our adversary.
Our adversary scatters our thoughts, or brings them into negativity. Every situation, circumstance, or person looks bleak and dark. Hope vanishes; gloom overshadows us, negativity rules. Everything seems against us, everyone is our enemy, all the people are talking against us; ‘nobody loves me’ we say. There are wandering thoughts, baseless thoughts which have no relationship with reality. Our adversary does his homework well beforehand and takes us on a journey of thoughts. He turns the thoughts into reality and the reality speaks to us.
As I have personally experienced, this battle of the mind goes on and off. It is a continous phenomenon. The believer has to experience it. He should not be discouraged by such experiences and situations but keep on moving. He must remember that he is on the winning side; Christ is with him and he will never let down him. This is all part of our spiritual life and walk. The more you experience such things, the stronger you will grow.
We should never get discouraged when we pass through such dark, bleak and negative experiences. Remember our Master, our Good Shepherd, is with us. He will never leave us, nor forsake us. His bright and shining promises are, “I am with you till the end of the age. I will go wherever you go. I will not leave you. I will not leave you orphan. I am your Father. You are my beloved. I have purchased you with my precious blood. You are precious in my sight. I am your Good Shepherd. I first loved you. You are mine. I will guide you. I will protect you. I will go before you. I will come to take you home.”
These very comforting words of Jesus help us through the trials and fluctuations of our spiritual life. Do not be discouraged. Keep looking unto the finisher of your faith. He is always near to you to sustain you, to protect you, to encourage you and to bless you.
So don’t be dismayed; be strong in the Lord. May the grace of God abound with your soul, spirit and body.
Amen.