The Struggle

Ephesians 6:12

Sometimes the spiritual forces of darkness seem like a blitzkrieg of unbeatable giants. At times they’ve overtaken me; they yawn at how easy it is. My prayers are elementary; I have a white-knuckled grip on the fact that maybe God will come and reason with me there. And I wait.

As in most dark places, if I sit long enough, I start to see things. There’s the outline of the sofa, the end tables, and an origami crane my son made. I slowly walk through the house to light a candle. When lit, this small flame illuminates everything.

I can see individuals throughout history who have imitated the expensive, painful, beautiful and powerful love of Christ. Martin Luther King Jr. fought the cancer of racial bigotry that had infected America for centuries through nonviolence and civil disobedience. Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to diffuse the pattern of revenge one oppressed race took over another. They insisted that the country needed healing even more than it needed justice. Their actions demonstrated that they knew that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the . . . powers of this dark world . . .” (Ephesians 6:12) In all their vulnerability, they, like millions of others, put on the full armor of God and fought for God’s kingdom.