While Christians need to be on guard, ready to fight Satan’s schemes, we don’t need to become exhausted. We can find joy in the midst of fighting spiritually. Please let me refresh you as I explore the joy we can experience, even while fighting spiritually.
We cannot expect an easy life as Christians. Jesus warned us, in John 16:33b “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Even in warning us of trouble, Jesus reassures our hearts about his victory. Satan wants us to expect an easy life and ignore spiritual warfare, or else, to worry, and strive in our own strength. Both methods will exhaust and defeat us.
It is in admitting that life is hard, but then rejoicing despite the trouble, that we find joy. Abraham Lincoln said we will be as happy as we choose to be. First, we might need to grieve. Ecclesiastes 3:4 mentions, “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,” so grief may need to come before joy. I would never make light of our need to grieve, because I found so much healing by honestly grieving. I told God, a counselor and a few safe friends about my grief when I was young. And although I no longer need a counselor, I do still tell God and friends when I am sad. But once we have grieved, we need to again seek relief, rest, peace and joy.
A pastor said God’s favorite praises are those we offer when we are in pain (emotional or physical.) Think of Paul and Silas, beaten bloody and chained in a dark prison, yet singing praises to God at Midnight (Acts 16:25.) God caused an earthquake that opened the prison doors and knocked off the men’s chains, thus freeing them. Look at Job in 1:20-21, after losing everything, “Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came form my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In Romans 5:3-5 Paul said “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope.”
I know this is true, because I am having trouble in the aftermath of an accident I suffered last June 2025. Although I did physical therapy, I also stopped doing any hiking and distance walking, and this was my physical therapist’s concern. In November when I finally did do a 1 mile walk my knee began to ache and swell. It has only gotten worse so I am now limping. It hurts to walk or turn my right knee. Three weeks ago, my whole body was inflamed, so that my back ached, both hips ached, even the soles of my feet ached. I had just had hand surgery and couldn’t get it wet or sweaty, so I could not take a hot bath (which I did the day after my accident last June 2025.) I used DMSO, even drank water mixed with willow bark powder (which I had not taken since June 2025 after the accident), and used 2 hot water bottles on my back and hip. But most of all, I decided to sing along with praise songs on the radio. I remembered the pastor had said praises, from those in pain, please God.
So I kept singing, and I told God about all the good things in my life. I claimed the joy and victory in the good things in my life. I thought of everything good that I have and I even said, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan,” because I wondered if Satan may have been stirring up trouble. I kept moving too, because some inflammation gets worse if we sit still too long. Our bodies can stiffen, and then we hurt more. I did not move as fast as normal for many days, and I took the willow bark powder for 6 days. But I gradually got better. It still hurts very much to walk or bend and turn my knee, but the other aches mostly went away (and I am icing the sole of my right foot and bracing it in the morning.) Sometimes an injury to one part of our body causes us to hurt in other areas, because we stiffen up and then we are pulling too hard on other parts. Plus we tend to slouch and stand crookedly, leaning towards the uninjured side, but then we hurt the uninjured side too. So I had to stand up straight. But all of that helped. Walking is still painful, and I am limiting that very much. But I have a date to see a surgeon later this March. Eventually I’ll get surgery on the injured knee.
In all of this surprise and pain, I know God is good. The hand injury, I mentioned, has been with me for over 8 years, due to a bony growth that was interfering with my tendons in my fingers. Likely that was due to over-use, so now, post-op, I bought some special wrist braces for any exercise that might strain the wrist. I am also adjusting some of my exercises and chores, so I am more careful about the strain on my left hand (I am right-handed, but my left hand is the one I use for heavy lifting during chores and canning.) This way I pray the boney growth never comes back.
But getting back to the spiritual battle, first I had to tell God about the physical pain and tell him about my concerns and sadness about all of that. Then I chose to not focus on my pain. I praised God, thanked him for everything good in my life, and despite the physical pain, I felt spiritual contentment even before the pain began to diminish. I had to fight my flesh’s desire to mope in self-pity or even anger over the grocery store accident that caused my right leg to be injured. I had to find the joy of God, and in a sense, I had to fight for that joy.
Our spiritual lives require a fight. Remember that even in the sinless Garden of Eden, sin did exist—just not sin from Adam or Eve. Satan’s sin existed in the Garden, because Satan had access to that garden, and he went there to tempt Adam and Eve. So fighting spiritually is not a curse of our sin but rather a curse from Satan. Yes—now that Adam and Eve became sinners too—the spiritual battle is also from our sinful flesh that wants to complain and do many worse things. Either way, whether Satan or our flesh tempts and tries us, we must fight back. If we choose to be passive, we will not win. We will fall, whether into obvious sin (anger, lashing out at others, etc.) or passive sin by wallowing in self pity. Either way, if we do not fight, we will not win.
But when we fight for our joy, we can find it. Despite the pain I had that Saturday morning when I awoke and my whole body seemed inflamed with pain, I did find joy, joy in the Lord. And as I sang praise songs (including at church that evening) I somehow did not feel the pain as much. When I thought about my body, it did hurt. But when I thought about the Lord, I felt such freedom.
And by God’s grace, I do not feel that kind of pain now—mostly only in the injured knee, and almost not at all when I am sitting. So rejoicing in the Lord is easier right now than it was on those all-over-body pain days. But I had the joy then too. We have to remember that God can bring us joy when we seek him. But we have to fight for that peace and joy. Satan and our flesh are always ready to mess up our peace of mind, but we can resist him. We have to remember that our first attempt to defy Satan and our flesh may not be successful. We may have to continue to fight, crying out in pain, eventually praising God and then seeking joy. Eventually that joy does come. I know, because this has been consistently true for me, no matter how hard my life has been.
I have so much more to say about finding joy in the spiritual battle, so I will write a part two next week so I can expand this theme, because there is so much hope, despite the fact we need to fight. God has so much victory for us, and I want to tell you more. I also pray you will share your victories, concerns and hopes with me about this too! May the Lord bless you this week. Thanks for joining us in this post.