Are you battle ready?
 
During the Cold War 6,000 military personnel and their families, including mine, lived on a remote Aleutian Island in close proximity to Russia. Adak, Alaska was a strategic air base, listening post, and submarine surveillance center at the time. It was home to anti-submarine patrol aircraft, elite Naval Fighter Squadrons, and a top secret Underwater Atomic Weapons Station housing 70 nuclear warheads.
 
With the Cold War “over” the Navy abandoned the island in 1997, leaving behind about $3 billion in military resources. The current population of 188 people live among deserted, decaying and moldy military buildings, houses, schools, abandoned bunkers and rusting artillery. Once a thriving frontline outpost for defending America against nuclear war, Adak now lies in apocalyptic ruin, a shell of its former self.
 
The present condition of Adak is a graphic picture of the battle-ready state of today’s church. Once a first line of defense against enemy attacks, the modern church has abandoned the wealth of resources God has given to combat spiritual forces of darkness. Choosing to believe the war is “over” because of the finished work of Christ, we have minimized and ignored the daily damage being inflicted upon us by the enemy. Our attitude is We don’t need to be fight this battle. God will fight it for us.
 
While it’s true that God fights our battles, He still requires our participation. He’s a Mighty Warrior who chooses to fight battles for us and through us. He trains our hands to use the right weaponry at the right time so we are able to work with Him to advance His Kingdom.
 
Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1
 
Here’s the stark reality—we live in a chronic war zone until the ruler of this world is finally and forever defeated by God. In the meantime, the people of God must wake up, arm up and take back the authority we’ve ceded to the enemy through ignorance, complacency, indifference and denial.
 

In what ways do you see this grim picture of battle readiness represented in present day realities?
 
 
What has depleted your weapons arsenal? Your will to war?
 

How do you see God fighting battles for you and through you?


How would you evaluate your own battle readiness?


 

Know your enemy and know yourself,
and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.
Sun Tsu