I recently read the biography of an ancient monk named St. Anthony. It was written by the church father and great defender of the faith, Athanasius. 

I was struck by Anthony’s humility and power. Usually we don’t think of humility and power going together, but they do. When someone is truly humble, God works powerfully through them.

Anthony also had great wisdom and discernment. Since he was such an influential figure in God’s kingdom, he was frequently the subject of spiritual attack. He even came face to face with Satan who tried to intimidate him. But Anthony was known to say: “while our Lord is with us our enemies shall not touch us.”*

The same is true for us. 

Many modern Christians downplay the presence of evil and of spiritual warfare. That’s a mistake. I wonder how many challenges we face could be faced more directly if we knew the real issue and opponent.

Yet the reality of spiritual warfare doesn’t need to intimidate us.

If you are standing firmly in Christ, the Enemy is like that proverbial opponent whose bark is worse than his bite. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

But you need to be “with the Lord,” as Anthony said, for that to work.

Are you?

“While our Lord is with us our enemies shall not touch us.”

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Notes:

—Podcast. “Why is there so much suffering and evil in the world if there is a benevolent being?” That was a question I was asked at a Q and A Forum. Click here to watch or listen to the answer. Or you can tune in to ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ wherever you subscribe to podcasts.  

—Spiritual Warfare. If this subject is new to you, you can listen to my talk with Jon Thompson, author of Deliverance, here.

–*Athanasius, The Life of St. Anthony the Great (Willits, Eastern Orthodox Books, no date given), 60.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.