The "Everyday"

This post comes out of some things I've been talking about with a friend of mine. We were both discussing how easily the little things of life can pile up and pretty soon make the day a "not so great" one, though if someone asked you why it was a bad day, you couldn't really put your finger on it. The big things in life--the outright attacks that we so easily recognize as tactics of the enemy--are more readily seen and dealt with. It's the little things in life that creep up on us, because we aren't looking for them. The everyday things, like little annoyances or the stresses of daily work, happen to all of us; therefore we look at them and think, "No big deal. That's just life." And it is "just life." But often the "just life" issues are the ones that build up and catch us off guard, despite--or somehow because of--the fact that they are the little, everyday issues. Perhaps this is part of the reason Christ urged his discples to stay alert, to pray, so that they would not be overcome (Mark 14:38). God is slowly teaching me that each day is a battle, and that my mind is the battlefield. When I keep my mind alert, when I keep my soul covered in prayer, the Enemy has a much harder time using those little everyday things to get past my defenses. I don't believe that every difficult or stressful or frustrating situation is directly caused by Satan; he is not all-powerful. But when I have not stayed alert, he will certainly sweep in to use each possible situation to discourage, tempt, and enslave me.

I know what you're thinking; I've been thinking it, too. "This sounds so depressing. Each day is a battle? I can't possibly fight against the 'everyday' every day!" We're right: we can't. But we know the One who can. Our job is not to win the war over our minds; our job is to recognize that there is a war going on, and then to submit that war to Christ. Fighting against daily stresses and discouragements is a lot like David going to fight a 9-foot-tall Goliath. Yet what did David say? "It is the [LORD's] battle, not ours"(1 Samuel 17:46 NLT). And what did Moses tell the Israelites when they were being faced by Pharoah and all his army? "Don't be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you. [...] The LORD himself will fight for you. You won't have to lift a finger in your defense!" (Exodus 14:13-14 NLT)

Yes, the everyday things of life get to us, because ife isn't easy; God never promised it would be. But when we realize that every day is a battle, we can run to our Father's arms...and then we can stand back and watch the Lord of Heaven's Armies win the victory we need to live every day in freedom.