God's Warnings About Spiritual Warfare Are Clear

When I say “spiritual warfare” what comes to your mind? For some people it’s images of dark streets or alleys or haunted houses with demons lurking in the shadows. Others imagine people being controlled by demons against their will. For some it’s the thought of being attacked with sickness. Others would describe it as persecution of Christians like we are seeing in the Middle East. Or it could be persecution from people around us at work or home or in our families. I for one am glad that the Bible warns us about spiritual warfare. Aren’t you? Yes, there are multiple warnings in the Bible about what Satan and his followers might do to us. However, you may be surprised to learn that God's warnings don’t include any of the things mentioned in the first paragraph. Let’s take a closer look at God's warnings about spiritual warfare in the Bible.

God's General Warnings About Satanic Attacks

1. We’re warned to watch out for satanic attacks 1 Peter 5:8. This means we can recognize them.
2. We’re warned about being outwitted by satanic attacks 2 Corinthians 2:11. This means they may not be what you think they are.
3. We’re warned about being deceived by a satanic attack 2 Corinthians 11:3. This means that the attacks will be on our minds.

God's Specific Warnings About Possible Satanic Attacks

1. Married couples need to watch for satanic attacks when abstaining from sexual contact while fasting 1 Corinthians 7:1-5.
2. We need to forgive others so Satan doesn’t take advantage of us or the one we need to forgive 2 Corinthians 2:10-11.
3. We need to watch out for a satanically inspired gospel that deceives people and leads them astray from the true Gospel 2 Corinthians 11:1-5.
4. We need to deal with our anger since it’s something Satan can take advantage of when attacking us Ephesians 4:26-27.
5. Young widows need to stay busy with work or they may give Satan an opportunity to attack them 1 Timothy 4:11-16.

What God's Warnings About Satan Do Not Include

1. God doesn’t warn us about being controlled by Satan against our will.
2. God doesn’t warn us about Satan attacking our health.
3. God doesn’t warn us about satanic attacks on our circumstances.

What do we make of this? The specific warnings above are not what most people would expect. God's warnings in the Bible don’t include many of the things that people think are the biggest issues with satanic attacks. Forgive me for saying the obvious. This means we shouldn’t be worried about those issues. Look again at the lists above. God's warnings about spiritual warfare emphasize satanic attacks on our minds! Yes, it’s possible Satan can attack our health and our circumstances. Yes, it’s possible Satan can get people to persecute us. Why doesn’t God warn us about those things? Because we can’t resist them. We can pray they don’t happen but we can’t resist them. We can only resist His attacks on our minds. Let's pay attention to God's warnings, not what we think the problem might be. What comes to your mind when I say “spiritual warfare”? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment or question below.