The ability to still the clamor within our heart and mind is a key part of a spiritual warrior’s character. To be quite in God, even in the face of adversity, is a challenge. Warriors cannot move out of panic; they must operate out of peace and rest.
Demons can roar, people can scream, panic can reign, but peace can live in every one of us and break the power of darkness. We allow ourselves to relax in the peaceful embrace of God, we learn more about being confident in his great strength.
As we developed this understanding of resting in him, God will send us into places where only his grace can protect us. This is the astonishing and breathtaking call of a spiritual warrior – to go where others fear to tread, but to take ground with the confidence of God in us. He calls us to a Luke 10:3 – 9 existence:
Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Kerry neither money big, knapsack, or sandals; and greet no one along the road. R how she enter, 1st sick, peace to this house. And of the son of pieces there, your peaceful rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as a gift, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, each such things as are set before you. And heals sick there, and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near you.
A spiritual warrior is sent out as a Lamb among wolves – but our best friend is a lion. His all-consuming power turns our puny hearts into a fortress that cannot be taken.
A friend had a vision, he saw an army of hideous, marauding enemies charging towards him. They were beasts – ugly, twisted, vile beings. Naturally, he began to panic. Suddenly, a curtain came down around him. It’s around him like a circle; he could only dimly make out the shapes of the enemy on the other side of it.
Inside that small, excluded zone, he felt God put his arms around him. From outside the curtain, he could hear the enemy rant and rave, threatening him with every bit of malevolence in his being. The Army was violently rampaging, but he had the arms of God around him. In his left ear, he could hear the Lord gently chuckle. Listen to that, he whispered.
To be embraced by God’s kindness in the midst of the fury and crazed curses of the enemy was a profound experience for him. His King was totally unconcerned about what was happening outside that tiny space. This is our secret place, he whispered to him. The enemy will never know where it is. All this is on the inside of you. You need to know how to step back into your spirit man and live with me.
God was calm in the face of fury and his confidence rubbed off on him. God’s presence in that moment taught him everything he needed to know about standing firm in the Lord. This quiet confidence gave him the strength and energy to fight on. He could relax in his presence, focusing on him in quietness. Understanding his statement in Psalm 46:10 – be still, and know that I am God, – is vital to the development of a spiritual warrior.
God will speak more to a person in silence than he will in conversation; he has a way of inhabiting an environment that speaks volumes.
True stillness involves the destruction of fear because it opens our eyes to the majestic provisions of God on our behalf when everything is against us – Exodus 14 13:14. In quietness before God we find a confidence, a strength, and a power not available to us outside of stillness – Isaiah 30:15.
Without stillness we cannot see in the spirit. Experienced fishermen caught in a raging sea were completely undone by the power of the peace of Jesus over the elements. Out of our inner stillness we get to release peace and cause stillness to affect our surroundings – Mark for: 39.
When Elijah was learning stillness, it was for the express purpose that his ability to listen and hear God’s voice could go to a deeper level of perception – 1st Kings 19:12 – 13. He heard the whisper of God. A word is brought to us stealthily and our ear receives a whisper of it – Job 4:12. The still small voice of God comes to people who learn stillness as a way of life.
The Hebrew word still that describes Elijah’s experience of God’s voice: is the word dananah, which is itself a derivative of the word dahan, meaning to be dumbfounded or astonished – literally, to be astonished at the sound.
The power of God in a whisper is overwhelming. Most of the revelation you receive will not come from the study of books, but in a place of meditation – waiting on the Lord. We must practice quietness, because the Lord finds a quite spirit so irresistible. It gives him enormous pleasure when we learn stillness and quietness – 1 Peter 3:4. David learned to commune in quietness on his bed – Psalm 4: 4.
Spiritual warriors do not react. They revert to their inner place of practical stillness. It is their custom to cultivate rest, peace, and stillness as a way of life before God. Life in the spirit is one of developing godly routines that arise out of our spirit when we most need them. We cannot manifest what is not present.
Be still and know that I am God, (Psalm 46:10) is the best advice you will ever receive on spiritual warfare. Spiritual warriors go into their place of refuge to discover God so that they may exit from the fortress of his presence to combat the enemy.
Assignment – how quiet is your life? How still is your mind? How peaceful are you on difficult days? What are you hearing and seeing in the spirit over your own circumstances?
Commission – write down the above into a simple declaration of peace and stillness and proclaim it to your own heart and mind.