War

a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.
g

active hostility or contention; conflict; contest

a struggle

If 10 different people were asked the meaning of the word "war", I guarantee pieces of their answers would be exactly the same, but their own personal thoughts and experiences would be different. For instance, if I walked up to a WW2 or Vietnam Veteran, their experiences would definitely differ from a firefighter, or a teacher, or someone living on the streets. But war is war. It's a battle. It's two or more sides of opposition. It's negative energy. It's the work of enemies.

There is war happening in every country, on every continent, in every city, in every household, in every person every day. Seen and unseen war. Battles between a married couple or siblings. Battles with major companies in competition. Internal battles with addiction or insecurity or inadequacy. Negative energy is spread throughout the world every day. Think about it... How many days have you lived where you weren't in conflict with someone else, something else or yourself? Almost every day I can say with confidence that I battle something. Maybe I don't have a physical fight with someone, but there is war in my life mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Lots of times pastors, speakers or authors will speak out about what they call "spiritual warfare". About how war is happening all around us and we don't even see it. I wonder how many people actually believe that. I wonder if they recognize that the oppression, depression, anxiety and stress they feel could possibly all be connected to the spiritual warfare happening in their life. Even if they're told, I wonder if they will believe it.

There is a war going on. All talk of a Christian's right to live luxuriously "as a child of the King" in this atmosphere sounds hollow -- especially since the King himself is stripped for battle.

--John Piper

It's terrifying to think someone would live all the days of their life trying to get ahead or to be successful, without even realizing what is going on around them. Some Christians come to the Lord and expect perfection. What they don't realize is that they have just accepted a life where they die to themselves. They want to be this "child of the King" who embodies what they define as happiness. Instead, they are walking straight into a battle zone. But oh how glorious the war is because there has already been victory in the battles of the believer. Jesus himself fought war here on the earth, and in His blood victory comes. The KING of KINGS and the LORD of LORDS battled Satan and WON. How exciting is that?

One thing I must remember when in the presence of war is how BIG the Lord is. Even in the battles we face day to day, He shows up. He knows all, understands all, and is victorious in all. It's comforting, really. I know that no matter what happens in my life, the Lord gets the glory in the end. Isn't that the purpose to begin with? We fight, our spirits fight, against many many many different things, but the Lord gets the glory and we find joy in the end. I know that I know that I KNOW the current battles being faced are victorious in the name of Jesus.

Don't you want to live life knowing the suffering that is coming has already been overcome by a great and glorious God?