I think many of us have been through times of what felt like ongoing spiritual warfare, like there was just no end in sight. Perhaps you have felt this way before? Perhaps you are experiencing this now? Well, I’d like to send you a word of encouragement within this message because I’ve have been there. I know what’s it’s like, therefore you have my compassion. I’d like to share with you a time in my life a few years ago where I faced continual spiritual warfare, and even though I was fighting with my sword, I didn’t see an immediate victory. Because of this, I started to get discouraged because I felt defeated. However, there was an important lesson within this battle that I had to learn. I would like to share this lesson with you.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

James 4:7 NKJV

This Scripture contains a specific promise for us, that if we submit to God in obedience and resist the devil (in terms of temptations, etc.) that he will then flee from us. During this battle I had this understanding, but I believe that the lesson the Lord wanted me to learn from this battle is that I had to keep on submitting to God and keep on resisting the devil. I couldn’t give up after one or two attempts to do so. I had to keep going because God was teaching me endurance (as well as many other things) during the battle. As I faithfully endured, I did get the victory over that battle thanks to the guidance and help from the Holy Spirit. Thank You Lord!

There is a good example of this from Scripture which I would like to share with you:

Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”

And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot.

And he said, “The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.”

Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you have destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.”

2 Kings 13:14-19 NKJV

The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance can also be understood as the Lord’s victory arrows. The Scriptures show us that we are promised victory in Christ. However, when the king only shot three times, Elisha was angry with him and said that he should have shot the LORD’s ‘victory’ arrows five or six times as then he would have destroyed Syria. I believe the message from this Scripture is one of exhortation (meaning to strongly encourage someone to do something). I believe that the Lord wants us to keep going – to keep on submitting to His instructions in obedience and to keep on resisting the devil. Once we have faithfully endured the temptations without compromising or giving-in, we will experience the promised victory over our enemies.

The other part of this story which is so beautiful to me, is that just as Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands to guide him, we have the precious Holy Spirit who carefully and lovingly guides our hands to ensure that we get the victory Jesus has promised us in His Word. This means that the Holy Spirit will give us specific instructions for the battle based on His wisdom and knowledge, and if we faithfully obey Him in submission, we will see victory in the battle. Thank You Lord, we are so grateful for Your guidance!

I pray that this word encourages all of us to keep going no matter what, because we have the promise of victory from the Lord. If you are facing a continual struggle or battle – may I kindly encourage that you pray to the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to guide your hands through His Holy Spirit so that you can experience the victory Christ has already won for you.

One more point I’d like to share with you for now, is that discouragement always comes from the enemy. The Holy Spirit does not discourage us, He is our Encourager. If you feel disheartened or discouraged at any time, please pray against those feelings and ask the Lord for a word of encouragement. In His great faithfulness, He will bring it to you from either His written Word, or possibly even from a brother or sister in Christ. Thank You Lord Jesus!