Divide and Conquer!

Sometimes life is war and the battlefield is fluid. Just when we think we have figured it all out....it changes, like going to the next level on a video game. Satan likes to keep a tactical advantage on us so we are hopping all the time, dodging morter shells and land mines. For most of us, we understand a lot of the blatant tactics he uses to trip us up and keep us bound. You know, the stuff we put in the "big" sin category. We easily trip and sing our way through all of that. And we feel really proud that we are so spiritual that we could see it coming and resist.

That's exactly why I strongly believe that this is a highly strategic and tactical warfare we fight against the enemy of our soul. Once we figure out and conquer him in one area, he has to change and go after us in our weaker areas.

One very weak area for many of us is community, fellowship, and accountability. We live in a world that it takes real effort to be a part of a church family. We're very busy living and keeping up with day to day responsibilities of family and work. We also live with the pressure to perform and be perfect to be accepted, so we tend to want to hide our imperfections and stay in the background. This is where the most dangerous tactic of the enemy conquers many Christians. The divide and conquer tactic is not new but it seems to be one of his favorites, and we fall for it all the time!

If our enemy can keep us seperated from other believers, then he is more likely to be able to "pick us off" one at a time. First, because we don't have the strength and power of others to draw from. If we feel like we have nowhere to go and noone to talk to, we are weak and ripe for picking off. Second, we are isolated and in the dark and don't have the truth of what is really going. Many times it takes more than our eyes and our vantage point to see the truth of what is happening in our lives. Third, we don't have a safe place to heal from battle wounds we may have received. There is safety in numbers! We have support and help and stronger soldiers bringing healing into our lives.

So many of us fall for this divide and conquer tactic in our lives. I see it all the time in families and between friends and other relationships. It starts with something small and we simply begin to shut down and move away to the perimeter of the battlefield as if we are trying to back out of a bad situation. As others may reach out to help, we back further because we are embarrassed that we can't stand on our own, or because the hit we have taken is pretty ugly and we don't think anyone else can handle the sight.

1 Corinthians 12 tells us that we are many members, but one body. That means we need each other to be successful. That means that if we are a hand, we need the eye to see what is ahead. If we are the eye, we need the hand to help us accomplish things, etc. I encourage to you stay intact with your body! Don't let Satan cut you off and conquer and crush your spirit! Start moving closer to your fellow soldiers, start being open and real about where you are, and see the healing and strength begin to come back into your bones.

Victory is ours! Stormie