Personal thoughts on living a defeated Christian life
By: David Ogundeko
Tags: Christianity, Christian Living

I’ve been thinking a lot about the story of Gideon, how he was found beating wheat in a winepress by the Angel of the Lord in Judges 6:11. Wheat was flailed in the wide-open fields of farms but Gideon chose to use a winepress — covered and in hiding.

If you read from Judges 1, you will discover the verse “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years”

This was a nation that had defeated the mighty army of Egypt, crossed the red sea with signs and wonders, and brought down the great walls of Jericho — yet found hiding and cowering from raids from the Midianites and the Amalekites. In many ways, this mirrors my personal life as a Christian. I’ve had periods of being on fire for God, burning with zeal and passion and at the forefront of being active in Church, in prayer groups engaging in spiritual warfare and living a life of continuous victory which then slowly peters away into confusion and limbo like a sand dune eroded by the wind in those moments when I’m distracted by the whirling worries of this world.

The Israelites had stopped focusing on God, they had raised up altars to foreign idols — they chose to step outside of the grace of God leaving them vulnerable to the enemy — the prowling devourer who never ceases to accuse the brethren.

Personally, apart from moments when God in His wisdom allows me to go through suffering just so He could build me up, I can trace every hardship to periods of spiritual stagnancy. Periods when I raise up altars to idols — My work, godly and ungodly relationships, legitimate concerns of my company and spiritual purpose, work deadlines, industry expectations, society’s standard of success and growth and other very important things that rob me of the time needed to go to God and just be still. To be still and know His loving kindness, His grace, His Rhema for the day, His compassion, His light and His will. To be still and be recharged in His presence, dwelling there like a fish in water. A fish cannot survive outside of water, likewise, a believer cannot survive outside the presence of God.

Jesus Christ said we cannot do anything outside of Him. Luke 10:19 and Mark 16:17 make the same promise “We have power over serpents and scorpions”. These are two kinds of demonic powers that attack us during moments of spiritual weakness.

Serpents → Deceptive and manifest in the spiritual and emotional realm. They bring anxiety, fear, anger, they strangle through depression and rob us of our praises. They are constantly speaking lies to lead us away from the truth. Antidote → Start every day with praises and dwell on Gods word and promises Scorpions → They lurk in darkness and strike at an opportune time. The sting may not manifest until much later in one's life. These spirits strike during moments of our spiritual strength and they gain access to us through dark areas/matters in our lives (strongholds). Their poison tend to manifest when we step away from God (which opens the way for the serpent to torment our emotions) the poison then manifests into physical sickness that could lead to death unless God intervenes through His mercy

When we step away from fellowship with God, we are like fish out of water, raising up alters to idols that appear to be legitimate concerns. Because we are not of this world, we become deliberate easy targets for spiritual attacks just as easily as the sun scorches and dries up the skin of a fish. These attacks manifest in our lives in various ways.

Interestingly, our identity never changes regardless of moments when we are far from our walk with God. Gideon was called a “mighty man of valour” by the Angel of the Lord. It is comforting to know that even when we are at our lowest God still sees us as His children predestined for glory and addresses us likewise. During moments of weakness, I hold fast to the promise in Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”