Woman In the War Zone
by Mrs. Cathy Corle
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds:) (II Corinthians 10:3-4)
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:10-13)
The Bible warns us repeatedly that we’re on the battlefield, and our enemy is fierce and relentless. It would take many pages to list all the verses of promise and instruction that God gave us in the Bible about this spiritual warfare. Even though victory is promised and sure, we sometimes find ourselves suffering, seemingly in defeat and despair.
I’m convinced that this is a necessary topic of meditation, because we’re sure to be under the greatest attack of any women in history. Revelation 12 speaks of Satan and says that “...the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” The closer to the Rapture we get, the hotter the battle rages. There are some dangers in war time that we need to acknowledge.
First, I hope you’ll take a moment to consider these thoughts and realize a few things with me. War goes against our natural inclinations. Our inner spirit cries out against many things that we face, and it’s tempting to ignore or deny what we are unwilling to accept. God made us for sinlessness, but we live in a sin-cursed world. In His image, we long for life, yet we are faced with death everyday. Our spirit cries for peace, but we live in a world of conflict. We are trapped in time, while our eternal spirit longs for the freedom of eternity.
When you realize that God made you an eternal being in His image, it will not be so surprising that you struggle with the inequities that you face in this brief span of time called your life. Don’t struggle against the reality that your life is a battlefront. Just realize that it’s temporary, and that victory is sure. Faithfulness is the key.
In addition, as ladies, we have an emotional make-up that causes us to withdraw even more from the conflicts and threats of fighting a war. We want to retreat from the battlefront, to deny the existence of the battle, to pretend that the enemy is not a real threat. We long for serenity and peaceful calm, so it is easy to find yourself wanting to refuse to fight.
Here’s another thought. God promised us victory, but not tranquility. Funny that we never sing, “Tranquility in Jesus.” I had to stop and ponder quite a while the first time I heard my husband say in a sermon that, “You can’t have victory without conflict and struggle. You can’t have victory unless you face an enemy. You can’t have victory unless you engage in warfare. Yes, we have been promised the victory, and it is already secure through the blood of Jesus, but you are still a soldier in a battle fighting against a real enemy. Stop being shocked that you face a war time situation.”
This may be the most sobering thought of all -- the quickest way to conquer a man is through the woman. No matter how strong a man of God is spiritually, he is ‘one flesh’ with his wife. They say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Is it possible that I might be the weak link that could bring destruction and damage to my husband’s life and ministry?
Though that is not always the case, and I know many godly ladies who are ‘strong in the Lord’ and faithful in the fight, we need to realize that it’s easy for us as wives to make our husbands and families and ministries vulnerable that might otherwise be strongly protected. Looking back, don’t you think Eve would cry out against the sin and sorrow she brought upon her husband and the entire world? If the devil knew he could use Eve as an inroad to Adam, I’m sure he’s capable of doing the same with us.
Every battlefront is filled with short sentences amid the deafening sounds of war, as soldiers cry out in distress. Here are a few statements you may hear yourself making in the midst of this spiritual warfare.
I’m Scared
It’s been said that courage is not the absence of fear, but going ahead in the face of our fear. Only the foolish are truly fearless. But we can have boldness and confidence in Christ, the Victor over sin and the grave. His promises are many and mighty, sure and secure. We don’t need to let fear rule our lives.
Someone once shocked me into considering this thought to fight off my tendency to worry. “What is the worst thing that could happen to you or your family? Death -- fatal and final. Now when you reconcile in your heart that death is simply going on to glory, that separation from loved ones is only temporary, that you and your loved ones belong to God, not to you, to do with as He wills, and that He is totally in control and nothing can happen to you or your loved ones until He allows it, then you can stop worrying and face every day and every situation and every possibility with faith and trust.” I must admit, at the time, I didn’t consider that the kindest remark that had ever been made to me, and it was more than slightly ‘overkill’ in response to whatever I had said. Nevertheless, it made me ponder this truth and led me to make some adjustments in my thinking.
The fear of death is the greatest fear of all, maybe the source of all fears, or ‘the grand-daddy of them all’ you might say. The wages of sin is death, and until sin entered the world, there was nothing to fear. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Jesus has already won that victory, and he took the sting of death for us. Death may buzz around and sound scary, but it can’t hurt us anymore than a bee without a stinger, because Jesus has already suffered that in our place! Hallelujah!
But until we get to heaven, we will have to deal with our own fearfulness and conquer it day by day. I’m a fearful person by nature -- I don’t enjoy airplanes, I only ride certain roller-coasters, and I have never been overwhelmed by the desire to go sky-diving or bungie-jumping! I also think the Bible hints at the fact that women are more prone to fear, just in our emotional makeup that God designed which makes us different. “Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.” It seems to me that this fearful tendency becomes more pronounced with age, so it is doubly important for us to lay a foundation of trust in God during our younger years that will set the course for us later in life.
Someone once told me that there are 365 ‘Fear Not’s” in the Bible, one for every single day of the year. There is one for every fear that haunts you at night, or hampers your joy by day. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10) If I fear the Lord, I have nothing to fear. If I have the Lord at my side, He is everything I need, and I don’t need to be in bondage to my fears.
I’m Tired of Fighting
I’m pleading with you to emblazon this sentence across your mind: “When you’re weary, think R&R, not AWOL!” I’ve seen so much tragedy follow on the heels of those words, “I’m tired of fighting,” that they automatically throw up a red flag for me. Whether it’s a situation that involves pastor and people, parents and children, husband and wife, or people and principle, you can’t just throw down your weapons and walk away from the front lines of any battle without being shot in the back by the devil!
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9) Jesus did tell His disciples to ‘come apart’ before you come apart, but he also commands us to stand. Just stand when you can’t go forward. Just stand when you can’t end the conflict. Stand when it doesn’t look like you can survive another moment. Don’t budge from your post; He is the Commander, all you need to do is obey. Just don’t run away from the fight!
We often find ourselves weary with situations that involve people, and perhaps our pride sometimes gets involved more than we realize. We can’t always win over someone we’ve struggled to influence or change with our principles, but we can be true to them ourselves. We need to realize from the beginning that every person has a will and a choice; God gave them that freedom. They may choose to go in the opposite direction -- maybe temporarily and maybe even permanently. But that should not determine that we cease going in the right direction, too. We need to be purposed in our hearts, before we address a conflict, that “If none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back -- no turning back.”
Again, please make this your motto in distress. “When you’re weary, think R&R, not AWOL!” Take that break. Give yourself some breathing room. Find a friend to laugh with, and cry when you have to. Give yourself a chance for rest and refreshment before you look that battle in the face again. But whatever you have to do, don’t even think the word quit. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (II Timothy 2:3)
I’m Hurt
Here’s where I started this train of thought in my mind, but on paper, I’ve decided to finish here. I could take you to the exact spot in the road where I was driving with tears streaming down my face when the Lord brought so much comfort and joy to my heart through this realization. I have often heard my husband say, “Don’t be so surprised when you’ve been wounded. Did you forget you’re in a war?” I was hurting and reminding myself of that very thing.
There have been a few situations of potential problem that I have dreaded for years before they ever came to pass. (My husband says that I share the same life’s verse with Job: “That which I greatly feared has come upon me...” because I’m very prone to see trouble coming and cry buckets of tears before it happens.)
This was one of those problems. For years I had been using reverse psychology on the Lord. “Now, Lord, I know You’ve promised that You won’t give me more than I can bear, and You see clearly that I could never handle this problem if it erupts, so I’m trusting that means that You are never going to let this happen to me.” (It didn’t work for you either, did it?)
Here I was driving and crying, and the first realization hit. “Hey, I can stop worrying about it. It finally happened. It’s over. I’m hurt, but I’m not dead. I think I can make it -- the Lord promised I can make it. Hey, I feel better already!” Then I was chuckling through my tears. “You ought to be glad it finally happened! The bomb has been defused! Whew, what a relief to have that over with!”
Yet the problem still hadn’t dissolved nor had the pain disappeared. “But Lord, it still hurts. I’m still on the battlefront and I’m still wounded. There are still people I love who are pitted against me. What do I do now?” Right then I learned one of the most important lessons that the Holy Spirit ever whispered into my heart, and this was a truth that set me free from my self-imposed bondage.
The Lord asked me this question: “If you were never hurt, why would you need a Great Physician? And by the way, just how big a hurt and how deep a wound do you believe that I can heal? Just how many and how often? Where do you draw the line on My power?” Just how skilled a doctor is this Great Physician? What kind of damage is beyond His power to repair?
He was really challenging me now. I knew in my heart that there was no limit on God’s ability to heal my wounds, whether they might be physical, emotional or spiritual. If the enemy could strike me down in death, God still has the power to raise me back up to life. The only limitation was the one I had placed on my willingness to be vulnerable to suffering in order to be in the battle zone. Besides my newest wound, I also had to face some hurts that I’d been carrying around in my heart for a long time, and admit to myself that it was my unwillingness to put them in the hands of Jesus, and not His unwillingness to heal that was the reason I still suffered.
Pretty soon I was driving down the road with a new joy and confidence I had never experienced before. I could see myself as an invincible soldier with my Great Physician always at my side -- the bionic woman, new and improved! Nobody can hurt me past God’s ability to heal me. There is nothing to fear, though Satan’s arrows are continually flying in my direction.
I’m still tempted to run the other way when I see pain coming straight at me, but I determined that day that there was nothing I shouldn’t be willing to bear after all that He suffered in my place. I finished that conversation with the Lord more surrendered than I have ever been to fight God’s battles and rely on the Great Physician at my side to patch me up as good as new no matter how often I may be wounded in the fight.
Where do you find yourself in this spiritual warfare? Are you denying the existence of the battle, and refusing to endure hardness as a soldier of Christ? Are you fearful and afraid, unwilling to trust in His promised protection and provision? Are you weary of the battle, fighting the desire to turn your back on the conflict? Are you wounded and suffering, and unaware that the Great Physician is near and able and anxious to heal every hurt? I hope that somewhere in these thoughts of mine you’ll find something that is just what you need to bolster your courage and encourage yourself when the hour of crisis presents itself to you.
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:57-58)
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:10-13)
The Bible warns us repeatedly that we’re on the battlefield, and our enemy is fierce and relentless. It would take many pages to list all the verses of promise and instruction that God gave us in the Bible about this spiritual warfare. Even though victory is promised and sure, we sometimes find ourselves suffering, seemingly in defeat and despair.
I’m convinced that this is a necessary topic of meditation, because we’re sure to be under the greatest attack of any women in history. Revelation 12 speaks of Satan and says that “...the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” The closer to the Rapture we get, the hotter the battle rages. There are some dangers in war time that we need to acknowledge.
First, I hope you’ll take a moment to consider these thoughts and realize a few things with me. War goes against our natural inclinations. Our inner spirit cries out against many things that we face, and it’s tempting to ignore or deny what we are unwilling to accept. God made us for sinlessness, but we live in a sin-cursed world. In His image, we long for life, yet we are faced with death everyday. Our spirit cries for peace, but we live in a world of conflict. We are trapped in time, while our eternal spirit longs for the freedom of eternity.
When you realize that God made you an eternal being in His image, it will not be so surprising that you struggle with the inequities that you face in this brief span of time called your life. Don’t struggle against the reality that your life is a battlefront. Just realize that it’s temporary, and that victory is sure. Faithfulness is the key.
In addition, as ladies, we have an emotional make-up that causes us to withdraw even more from the conflicts and threats of fighting a war. We want to retreat from the battlefront, to deny the existence of the battle, to pretend that the enemy is not a real threat. We long for serenity and peaceful calm, so it is easy to find yourself wanting to refuse to fight.
Here’s another thought. God promised us victory, but not tranquility. Funny that we never sing, “Tranquility in Jesus.” I had to stop and ponder quite a while the first time I heard my husband say in a sermon that, “You can’t have victory without conflict and struggle. You can’t have victory unless you face an enemy. You can’t have victory unless you engage in warfare. Yes, we have been promised the victory, and it is already secure through the blood of Jesus, but you are still a soldier in a battle fighting against a real enemy. Stop being shocked that you face a war time situation.”
This may be the most sobering thought of all -- the quickest way to conquer a man is through the woman. No matter how strong a man of God is spiritually, he is ‘one flesh’ with his wife. They say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Is it possible that I might be the weak link that could bring destruction and damage to my husband’s life and ministry?
Though that is not always the case, and I know many godly ladies who are ‘strong in the Lord’ and faithful in the fight, we need to realize that it’s easy for us as wives to make our husbands and families and ministries vulnerable that might otherwise be strongly protected. Looking back, don’t you think Eve would cry out against the sin and sorrow she brought upon her husband and the entire world? If the devil knew he could use Eve as an inroad to Adam, I’m sure he’s capable of doing the same with us.
Every battlefront is filled with short sentences amid the deafening sounds of war, as soldiers cry out in distress. Here are a few statements you may hear yourself making in the midst of this spiritual warfare.
I’m Scared
It’s been said that courage is not the absence of fear, but going ahead in the face of our fear. Only the foolish are truly fearless. But we can have boldness and confidence in Christ, the Victor over sin and the grave. His promises are many and mighty, sure and secure. We don’t need to let fear rule our lives.
Someone once shocked me into considering this thought to fight off my tendency to worry. “What is the worst thing that could happen to you or your family? Death -- fatal and final. Now when you reconcile in your heart that death is simply going on to glory, that separation from loved ones is only temporary, that you and your loved ones belong to God, not to you, to do with as He wills, and that He is totally in control and nothing can happen to you or your loved ones until He allows it, then you can stop worrying and face every day and every situation and every possibility with faith and trust.” I must admit, at the time, I didn’t consider that the kindest remark that had ever been made to me, and it was more than slightly ‘overkill’ in response to whatever I had said. Nevertheless, it made me ponder this truth and led me to make some adjustments in my thinking.
The fear of death is the greatest fear of all, maybe the source of all fears, or ‘the grand-daddy of them all’ you might say. The wages of sin is death, and until sin entered the world, there was nothing to fear. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Jesus has already won that victory, and he took the sting of death for us. Death may buzz around and sound scary, but it can’t hurt us anymore than a bee without a stinger, because Jesus has already suffered that in our place! Hallelujah!
But until we get to heaven, we will have to deal with our own fearfulness and conquer it day by day. I’m a fearful person by nature -- I don’t enjoy airplanes, I only ride certain roller-coasters, and I have never been overwhelmed by the desire to go sky-diving or bungie-jumping! I also think the Bible hints at the fact that women are more prone to fear, just in our emotional makeup that God designed which makes us different. “Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.” It seems to me that this fearful tendency becomes more pronounced with age, so it is doubly important for us to lay a foundation of trust in God during our younger years that will set the course for us later in life.
Someone once told me that there are 365 ‘Fear Not’s” in the Bible, one for every single day of the year. There is one for every fear that haunts you at night, or hampers your joy by day. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10) If I fear the Lord, I have nothing to fear. If I have the Lord at my side, He is everything I need, and I don’t need to be in bondage to my fears.
I’m Tired of Fighting
I’m pleading with you to emblazon this sentence across your mind: “When you’re weary, think R&R, not AWOL!” I’ve seen so much tragedy follow on the heels of those words, “I’m tired of fighting,” that they automatically throw up a red flag for me. Whether it’s a situation that involves pastor and people, parents and children, husband and wife, or people and principle, you can’t just throw down your weapons and walk away from the front lines of any battle without being shot in the back by the devil!
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9) Jesus did tell His disciples to ‘come apart’ before you come apart, but he also commands us to stand. Just stand when you can’t go forward. Just stand when you can’t end the conflict. Stand when it doesn’t look like you can survive another moment. Don’t budge from your post; He is the Commander, all you need to do is obey. Just don’t run away from the fight!
We often find ourselves weary with situations that involve people, and perhaps our pride sometimes gets involved more than we realize. We can’t always win over someone we’ve struggled to influence or change with our principles, but we can be true to them ourselves. We need to realize from the beginning that every person has a will and a choice; God gave them that freedom. They may choose to go in the opposite direction -- maybe temporarily and maybe even permanently. But that should not determine that we cease going in the right direction, too. We need to be purposed in our hearts, before we address a conflict, that “If none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back -- no turning back.”
Again, please make this your motto in distress. “When you’re weary, think R&R, not AWOL!” Take that break. Give yourself some breathing room. Find a friend to laugh with, and cry when you have to. Give yourself a chance for rest and refreshment before you look that battle in the face again. But whatever you have to do, don’t even think the word quit. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (II Timothy 2:3)
I’m Hurt
Here’s where I started this train of thought in my mind, but on paper, I’ve decided to finish here. I could take you to the exact spot in the road where I was driving with tears streaming down my face when the Lord brought so much comfort and joy to my heart through this realization. I have often heard my husband say, “Don’t be so surprised when you’ve been wounded. Did you forget you’re in a war?” I was hurting and reminding myself of that very thing.
There have been a few situations of potential problem that I have dreaded for years before they ever came to pass. (My husband says that I share the same life’s verse with Job: “That which I greatly feared has come upon me...” because I’m very prone to see trouble coming and cry buckets of tears before it happens.)
This was one of those problems. For years I had been using reverse psychology on the Lord. “Now, Lord, I know You’ve promised that You won’t give me more than I can bear, and You see clearly that I could never handle this problem if it erupts, so I’m trusting that means that You are never going to let this happen to me.” (It didn’t work for you either, did it?)
Here I was driving and crying, and the first realization hit. “Hey, I can stop worrying about it. It finally happened. It’s over. I’m hurt, but I’m not dead. I think I can make it -- the Lord promised I can make it. Hey, I feel better already!” Then I was chuckling through my tears. “You ought to be glad it finally happened! The bomb has been defused! Whew, what a relief to have that over with!”
Yet the problem still hadn’t dissolved nor had the pain disappeared. “But Lord, it still hurts. I’m still on the battlefront and I’m still wounded. There are still people I love who are pitted against me. What do I do now?” Right then I learned one of the most important lessons that the Holy Spirit ever whispered into my heart, and this was a truth that set me free from my self-imposed bondage.
The Lord asked me this question: “If you were never hurt, why would you need a Great Physician? And by the way, just how big a hurt and how deep a wound do you believe that I can heal? Just how many and how often? Where do you draw the line on My power?” Just how skilled a doctor is this Great Physician? What kind of damage is beyond His power to repair?
He was really challenging me now. I knew in my heart that there was no limit on God’s ability to heal my wounds, whether they might be physical, emotional or spiritual. If the enemy could strike me down in death, God still has the power to raise me back up to life. The only limitation was the one I had placed on my willingness to be vulnerable to suffering in order to be in the battle zone. Besides my newest wound, I also had to face some hurts that I’d been carrying around in my heart for a long time, and admit to myself that it was my unwillingness to put them in the hands of Jesus, and not His unwillingness to heal that was the reason I still suffered.
Pretty soon I was driving down the road with a new joy and confidence I had never experienced before. I could see myself as an invincible soldier with my Great Physician always at my side -- the bionic woman, new and improved! Nobody can hurt me past God’s ability to heal me. There is nothing to fear, though Satan’s arrows are continually flying in my direction.
I’m still tempted to run the other way when I see pain coming straight at me, but I determined that day that there was nothing I shouldn’t be willing to bear after all that He suffered in my place. I finished that conversation with the Lord more surrendered than I have ever been to fight God’s battles and rely on the Great Physician at my side to patch me up as good as new no matter how often I may be wounded in the fight.
Where do you find yourself in this spiritual warfare? Are you denying the existence of the battle, and refusing to endure hardness as a soldier of Christ? Are you fearful and afraid, unwilling to trust in His promised protection and provision? Are you weary of the battle, fighting the desire to turn your back on the conflict? Are you wounded and suffering, and unaware that the Great Physician is near and able and anxious to heal every hurt? I hope that somewhere in these thoughts of mine you’ll find something that is just what you need to bolster your courage and encourage yourself when the hour of crisis presents itself to you.
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:57-58)
