On Spiritual Combat: Identifying The AdversarySample

The Darkness Hideth Not from Thee

When I teach my “Full Armor of God” class, I begin by telling my students to close one eye and to cover that eye with their hand. (Do that now as you read this. Close an eye and cover it with your hand.)

Then I tell them about staying focused on God through studying his Word and remaining in prayer. “The things of the world will blind you if you do not keep a part of yourself focused on God. You will be blindsided by the evil one because you have no ability to discern the things that are of darkness.” (Keep that eye covered, or you will miss out on something pretty amazing.)

When a soldier puts camo on his face, he takes the areas that would be in shadow (like the eye sockets and around the nose) and makes them a light color. And the things that would catch the light, like the nose, chin, cheekbones, and forehead, he covers with a dark color. (Keep covering that eye.)

In the same way, the evil one will take bright and beautiful things, like the loving and pure sexual relations within a godly marriage, and make them dark and vile, as with pornography. Our foe will also take things that are dark and ugly, like addictive drugs, and make them look bright and attractive. (Don’t uncover your eye yet.)

These are simple examples, but many things are far more complex and difficult to discern. The evil one cannot create anything. He can only camouflage, distort, and pervert what God created. It is through prayer and reading God’s Word that we can discern these things. (Keep covering that eye.)

It is by our relationship with God, through prayer and by studying his Word, that we keep ourselves protected from the things of darkness. (Keep it up, almost there.)

After a few minutes of instruction, we turn off the lights, and I tell everyone to take their hand off their eye and open their eye. (But don’t take yours off yet!) There is always a chorus of “Ooo!” and “Wow!” from the audience. With the light turned off, the eye that was covered now has far better night vision than the other eye. For those who have never done this, the effect is remarkable.

Do that now. Turn off the light or move into a dark room or closet. Allow for a little ambient light so the room isn’t completely dark; perhaps leave the door cracked a little. Then take your hand off your eye. (If you protect that eye for five or ten minutes, the effect is astounding. To get the full effect, you really need to keep that eye closed for up to thirty minutes.) This is what it means to not be blinded by the things of this world and to be focused on God and his Holy Word in order to wage war against the evil one.