This is the fight of your life.
The enemy in the ring with you is none other than… Comfort. Now, up close, Comfort doesn’t appear too dangerous. In fact, he actually appears rather friendly and inviting. But the enemy knows his best chance of catching you off guard is when you’re comfortable. That’s when you start to believe he wouldn’t dare hurt you! Of course, Comfort has been training by using this strategy for ages. He’s not going to tell you up front when he plans on upper cutting you. No! Instead, he plans on luring you in closer to him by making you feel… comfortable. Do you recall when Eve felt comfortable enough to be having a conversation with the serpent in Genesis 3:1-6? That same comfort is what led Eve to believe Satan’s schemes were safe enough to taste test later on.
Satan’s strategy is to sell the lie that comfort can save.
One of Comfort’s greatest tricks in the ring is to make you feel comfortable enough to believe you’re not actually in a fight anymore. Once he gets you to settle in just enough… BAM… that’s when he pounces (1 Peter 5:8)! And when he does, it’ll be too late to defend and guard yourself from the attack. You see, Comfort has a malicious strategy, and his strategy is to catch you off guard. He wants you to forget that you’re even in the ring. He doesn’t want you to remember that you’re supposed to be fighting. Because once you forget where you’re at and why you’re there, you’re also going to forget Who to run to when things aren’t so comfortable anymore. So, where do you run for help when your closest friend is Comfort and that’s the same friend who’s just attacked you? When things don’t go as planned and you get hit so hard by the unexpected blow that it floors you? You didn’t see it coming. Now you’re down on the ground. Do you tap out? No! You tap into God’s Word!
How to get back up after being knocked down.
Truth is the only thing powerful enough to fight back when anxiety, lies, and uncomfortable situations try to pin you down (John 8:32). You get back up. But not by your own strength. After taking such an unexpected hit, you’re not strong enough to stand on your own. Someone reaches down to pick you up. You take their hand and get back up on your two feet, firmly planting them on the solid ground again (1 Peter 5:9-10). Who was it that pulled you up? Do you remember? It’s not the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last that He comes to your rescue. Jesus! It was Jesus!
We get to walk in freedom & victory over the enemy because Jesus walked freely & victoriously out of the grave.
Jesus was the only One strong enough to pick up and throw the lies off of you. But He didn’t stop there! He fought Comfort, He fought the lies, the anxiety, the worries and He came out of that ring victorious! In Genesis 3:15, God tells the serpent that although he will strike at the heel, one day the serpent’s head will be crushed. Striking at the heel is painful, but Jesus crushing his head is fatal! The enemy has lost! The best part about Jesus winning the fight is that He invites you to stand beside Him when it’s trophy time! His victory over the enemy is your victory as well! You get to claim that victory over Comfort and all the lies that tag team with him, because Jesus has rendered them defeated! Sure, they’ll still try to pick on you outside the ring, and sometimes that strike at your heel will hurt, but what happened in the ring is finished and done. The next time the enemy tries to attack you outside the ring, just remind him of the fatal blow Jesus gave him inside the ring. Satan’s lies have no hold on you anymore. You get to walk in freedom & victory over the enemy because Jesus walked freely & victoriously out of the grave! So, don’t let the enemy fool you. This world IS uncomfortable because this world IS NOT our home! Until we are home though, continue to put on the full armor of God. Continue to stand firm in Christ. Stand firm in the victory. Stand firm on the foundation of truth. Stand firm.
1 Corinthians 15:55-58
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.