Hello Dear Readers, welcome to Attack the Attack part deux! For those that missed part one, Attack the Attack is the philosophy and mentality, also a strategy for dealing with Spiritual Warfare in this season. Please go back and read it, when you can, it will make this post/installment make so much more sense if you are missing context to the concepts and ideas that will be shared. Now, let’s get into it! Attack the Attack is another expression that pertains to “Walking in Authority as a Believer.” For those of us who grew up in church or have been saved for a while, we have heard many messages on this concept. It basically ties into Believers ( in Jesus Christ) being part of the Kingdom of God and all of the rights and privileges that come along with that. It refers to the fact that there is a spiritual realm, just like there is a natural realm and both are real and have various impacts on our lives. One of the major foundational concepts regarding Spiritual Warfare is that the things that happen in the spiritual realm directly affect, and ultimately influence what happens in the natural realm around us. With this in mind, it is easy to understand how important it is to be aware of and sensitive to discern spiritual activity and how it impacts our reality.
The Bible gives us great examples of what Spiritual Warfare could be like. Some of the great examples of spiritual warfare in the Bible include: Moses and the Children of Israel vs. Pharaoh, David and Goliath, King Jehosephat preparing for war, Archangel Michael vs. Prince of Persia (in the book of Daniel), and one of my favorites Elisha and his servant surrounded by their enemies. In all of those examples, different strategies and methods for engaging in warfare were used. In the example of Moses, he went to petition Pharoah on behalf of the Israelites to be released so that they could go to their Promised Land. In the Example of David and Goliath, David actually went to combat a giant one on one, eventually killing him and opening up the opportunity for the rest of Israel’s army to overtake their enemy. King Jehosephat fasted, prayed, and used praise and worship to win their battle, and in the Book of Daniel, the warfare was not in the earth realm, it was in the heavenlies in response to the prayers that Daniel had been praying. The last example mentioned, Elisha and his servant surrounded by their enemies is the example that directly relates to the current events example that gives a perfect illustration of how spiritual warfare is supposed to work for believers.
The servant of the man of God got up early and went out, and behold, there was an army with horses and chariots encircling the city. Elisha’s servant said to him, “Oh no, my master! What are we to do?” Elisha answered, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, please, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servants eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha. – 2 Kings 15-17
On August 5, 2023 there was an unspeakable act of violence that sparked a brawl (fight where many people “jump in”) on the dock at the Montgomery Riverfront. This event was all over the news and went viral on social media. For those who are not familiar with what happened; Basically an African American Riverboat Captain, moved the boat of a group of caucasian boaters who refused to move out of the way so that the Riverboat Harriet 2 could dock. According to some accounts of the event, the boaters had been asked/notified to move several times before the captain went to the dock to move the boat out of the way for the riverboat. As a result of moving the boat without the consent of the boaters who were illegally parked there, a few of the men from the boat decided to confront the Riverboat Captain who was just doing his job. They began arguing with him, pushing and getting aggressive with him, and at this point a fight breaks out with the Captain being outnumbered by the men from the boat. Onlookers from the boat and other places at the dock were able to capture the whole ordeal on video. The amazing thing is that as the Captain was getting roughed up by the men from the boat, a young man, who we now know was the Captain’s coworker, jumped off the boat, swam to the dock and joined in the fight. At this point other people from the dock came to the aid of the Captain and to join in the fight. Most remarkably, one person even brought a folding chair as a weapon to the fight. While there are many layers to this event, everything from comical, historical, to racial and cultural, it is safe to say that the majority of people who saw this recognized that what happened to the Riverboat Captain was not right and that the people that started the altercation received an instant harvest on the evil and violence that they sowed into the situation.
While yes, I did get a few chuckles and laughs in regards to the memes and opinions that people expressed relating to this event, that is not why I am bringing this Alabama Brawl event up. In my opinion it was a great example of Elisha’s explanation to his servant, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” It looked like, to the men from the illegally parked boat, and probably to all of the onlookers, that the Captain was “on his own” when he went to address the situation that was preventing the Riverboat Harriet II from docking. The Captain did not lose his patience with the men from the boat, until one of them kept getting violent and aggressive with him, getting up in his face and putting his hands on the Captain. Only at this point does the Captain respond in self defense by tossing his hat/cap in the air and began fighting back. I think this is so significant because it’s not warfare unless you are fighting back. If you are under spiritual attack and never fight back it is only an attack, with the person not fighting back taking hits and losses. Another thing from that situation that stands out is the “hat toss”. It was such a simple gesture that had so much power behind it. Watching that was like the signal that it was about to go down, the Captain was ready to fight at that point. David used his slingshot and five smooth stones, Moses used his staff, and Jehosephat and the people of Israel sent up a shout and other expressions of worship. When the Captain went into the fight he had no idea how many of those men were going to jump on him and many of the people who ended up jumping into the fight had no idea that they would be involved in that altercation before it happened. In a matter of seconds the Captain who started out in the fight alone, seemingly with no help in sight and outnumbered went to helpers coming in to help fight and overtake the attackers from every side and even out of the water! It literally reminds me of one of those old school Karate or Kung Fu movies where someone picks a fight with the wrong person and people/other fighters come out of nowhere to join in the fight. In spiritual warfare, this is the reality that we walk in as Believers, it may look and feel like we are in the fight all by ourselves, but when we call on the Name of the Lord, when we worship and stand firm in our faith in God to deliver, and when we metaphorically toss out hat in the air and decide to resist the devil – we will experience our “Heavenly Help” arrive on the scene, throwing punches, elbows, and possibly even some Holy Ghost Fire Folding Chairs on our behalf!
Now in the rest of the story from 2 Kings 6, Elisha and his servant took a different approach to dealing with their enemy. They, along with the help from the Lord, were able to lead the enemy away to a different city, and let the Samarian King deal with them. I mention this because, just because Elisha had the opportunity to engage in the warfare that was seeking him out. He knew he had the advantage, and that divine help and protection was on his side. He knew all of this and still employed a different non-violent strategy. In doing so, the result of leading that army to Samaria actually brought a judgment against Samaria later in the story. So yes, we are powerful Believers, kept by God, and surrounded by divine protection and aided with supernatural help – That does not mean it is at our discretion on what to do with it. Elisha could have gotten “caught up” in seeing/knowing that all of this divine assistance was available and pursued violence. Now in the Alabama Brawl the Captain was clearly in Self Defense mode and probably did not have a whole lot of time to discuss with the Lord (if he is a Believer) how he was going to handle the situation, so it is no surprise that he responded the way that he did. This is why in spiritual warfare it is very important to know what weapons to fight with and how to use them.
Another key takeaway is that Spiritual Warfare is not always self defense or defensive, it can also involve taking new ground, or pushing forward to be the “help” in a battle that someone we know (or don’t know) needs to jump in and fight alongside them.
While the way that the Alabama Brawl unfolded and concluded is controversial for some, it does remind us that whether the attack is on us personally or on another, it is not warfare unless we fight back! This is why this example illustrates the Attack the Attack philosophy. Granted there are seasons when you may be overwhelmed, tired, drained, or just weakened by the cares of life and when the attack comes the LAST thing that you feel like doing is fighting back, you need to anyway. Yes, in those times the best way to fight back is to give your battles to the Lord and let Him fight on your behalf, but whatever you do, do not sit back and do nothing! If the Riverboat Captain had not decided to fight back, how motivated or inspired would the onlookers be to get involved in the situation and come to his aid? I think people would have still jumped in, but the energy and passion of the event would have been different. The same is true in Spiritual Warfare, God will still fight for us and send help when we are spiritually attacked, but our faith, trust, and our commitment to God usually gets damaged in the process.
In summary, this message is about Spiritual Warfare, not meeting violence with violence, although the example used displayed a lot of that. Key takeaways are that it is not warfare unless we fight back. This is why we are instructed to keep our spiritual armor on and to pray without ceasing. Basically it’s the “you won’t need to get ready if you stay ready,” type of mentality. Another Key takeaway is that there truly are more with us when we enter a spiritual battle. When we know that our help and divine HELPER (the Holy Spirit) is near and ready to fight with and in many cases for us at a moment’s notice, we can experience life differently. We do not need to go into a spiritual battle unsure of the outcome or fearful. We can confidently, charge and give our best fight because God is on our side. This is not about being arrogant or reckless, I am not encouraging anyone to pick fights or foolishly start trouble where there should be none, that is what the mean from the illegally parked boat did, and we all saw what the outcome of that is. What I mean is that we do not have to shrink back in fear, run away, or succumb to Spiritual Warfare pressure, we can make a decision to use the Word, praise, worship, prayer, faith, and many other Biblical spiritual weapons to resist the attacks of satan and his minions. The Next takeaway is to seek, discern, and use wisdom in regards to the battle. This means that we have to be in a posture like Elisha and his servant watching for and anticipating the next moves of the enemy before they are made. In the middle of the battle is not the time to strategize or figure out which is the best weapon to use. Spending time with God in the Word, in prayer, praise and worship allows time and avenues to strategies to download and for weapons to be sharpened. There are many excellent teachings on Spiritual Warfare for Christians that can go into way more detail and explanation, if you feel like this is an area that you want or need to grow in make the investment to get some of the resources out there. Lastly, remember that Attack the Attack is only one of many strategies or approaches to Spiritual Warfare. We do not have to react to every arrow the enemy shoots at us. We do not need to respond to every irritation, negative word, or threat that is raised. However when “hands” of the enemy are on you, Fight back, resist satan until he flees or until God takes over the battle for you.
It is possible that you are reading this because you are coming up on a season where this information will be valuable for you or others in your life. Let’s pray and agree that God will help you to maximize this information by studying more on Spiritual Warfare and will teach you when and how to fight in the Spiritual Realm. This is not about witchcraft or magic, this is about the Holy Spirit empowering you to resist, withstand, and overcome the attacks of the evil one. If you choose to learn more please take the teaching seriously and align your life and lifestyle to be consecrated to God so that He can protect and hide you when needed. There is so much more that can be stated on this topic, however this message is ending here. My God bless you and cover, protect and keep you and yours in Jesus name!
Blessings Always,
Dionne Renae ♥♥♥
Lessons 'n Blessings 