Strategy: Reacting To Win

Today, I had the honor of auditing a class with my daughter aimed at re-certifying men and women in the protective services industry. One of the many things I’ve exposed her to for empowerment. Not as in we are girls, let’s burn our bras to prove how bad a** we are, but more like, we are women who understand awareness and the world we live in and the evil thereof.

When a recent fatal stabbing of a professor occurred on her college campus, I immediately put her in touch with one of my recent guests, Mr. Bart Mitchum of Action Detective Agency ,who guards everyone from Congressmen to The Duck Dynasty family. I wanted to arm her with preparedness, not fear. She needs tools, not a safe space or just my concern. Snowflakes melt.

By the end of our first hour of class, I was left with a very real impression that a wise pastor left with me years ago when he said, “Monica, run TO your battles, not AWAY from them.”

Every move in our our class today, reminded me that this is the key to protecting not only yourself, but others. When confronted with crazy, how will you respond? When you see an imminent threat, how will you handle the subject manifesting evil? Will I draw near and subdue it or stand too far away to make an impact? Much like chess, I was instructed to act with the anticipation of my opponent in mind.

It literally took me all of 19 seconds to begin connecting dots. That’s what I do, I connect dots. The temporal with the spiritual. The political with the spiritual. Life with the spiritual. The sunset, sunrise, birth, art, lies, truth, fear, humility, wisdom, wildlife, nature, food, wine, fabrics, geography, atmosphere, microscopic, cellular, textures, temperatures, sounds, rain, fire, wind, water, war, peace…life and death, with the spiritual. That’s me, that’s what I do. Hence, why I see GOD in everything. 

My spiritual attention was immediately drawn to Ephesians 6. It’s here we are made of aware of who it is we are fighting and the armor we need to wear for the battle, to ensure success.

Our seasoned instructor shared techniques we could use to ensure ‘victory’ (staying alive). A rich wardrobe draped with the mentality that includes awareness and strategic technique that ensures the only person going down is the one attempting to subdue liberty and life. He reminded his students that they aren’t in the business of returning fire, but to fire first. But perhaps the most compelling lesson, involved the vital component to a physical altercation: use the least amount of effort possible. In other words, work smart, not hard. Full Stop.

My life has been a series of battles. Big ones. Watching a spouse die of ALS was by far the worst thing I ever care to endure with someone I love. Nearly losing my child to a chronic illness, more than once over a 10 year period, was enough to turn me into a tower of strength to ensure she survived. Enduring many trials and tribulations along my path including; confrontations with rejection, false accusations from family and business associates, physical, mental and emotional assaults, all left me with one glaring reality: my armor is frayed and a girl could use some rest.

As my instructor took me through individual exercises, he drew my attention to my propensity to use my physical strength instead of physics and the anatomy of my opponent (like my golf swing). I had to ask myself, have I forgotten who my enemy is and where my help comes from? Have I forgotten how to dress myself each morning and then stand on the rock of truth? Am I tired because I’m fighting in my own strength?

Short answer? Yes.

Many of you are fighting battles too. In the way of illness, spouses, employers, neighbors, kids, generational personality issues, bullies, self doubt, faithlessness, alienation, rejection, abandonment, loneliness, hopelessness, financial, emotional and mental poverty, just to name a few and you may find yourself feeling like your armor is more like a hospital gown with a drafty backside.

If this is you, you may simply need to be reminded as I was today, that the first action in dealing with a perpetrator against your righteousness, your emotional, mental and physical peace and joy is to make sure you’ve got your spiritual armor on. Then, assess the threat, face it, confront it, position yourself for the smart move, not the most exhausting one, subdue with the truth of God, resist, stand and conquer. All of this takes effort/faith, but wise (God) effort, not self.

If you’re fighting to win, (cause your’e not a born loser) this begs the question, what is victory in this sense? Well, for me, it’s walking/stumbling forward, in his righteousness and living in the joy promised in his perfect peace. Anything that gets in the way of that is something to confront.

Jesus himself was confronted with the same enemy of life that we are, Satan. His weapons were the same as ours, His Word. Some of us are standing on the battlefield of life with our pants down around our ankles, shouting to heaven, throwing punches at the wind, apathetically believing it’s ‘all in God’s hands’. And, well, it is. Kind of.

If Jesus had to open his mouth and speak to the issue at hand, why wouldn’t we? He confronted; lack, pride, fear, doubt, power, exhaustion and lies with one thing: THE Truth.

We have the same spiritual weapons to pull from in a temporal world. We also have very real enemies of life and limb in the earth and are not called to live in fear, but in love, power and with a sound mind. For me, that includes learning how my enemy thinks and moves and arming myself with the tools to ensure the last one standing is me. That means calling evil, evil and facing the giants in my life, temporal or spiritual and fighting to maintain the liberty Christ secured for me at the cross just as many men and women secured my liberty to speak, think and defend myself freely.

Fight On. (to win)

xo,

Monica