Colleen Orchanian

One of my favorite children's books is Madeline, which is about a little girl in Paris. In the story you will find this line, Miss Clavel turned on her light and said, "Something is not right!"

Spiritual warfare is when "something is not right" in our life.

What is spiritual warfare?

The first word, spiritual, tells us that it is not of the material world. It is unseen.

The second word, warfare, indicates that we are battling an enemy.

The battle is between God, who desires us to have full communion with Him, and Satan, who wants to separate us from God.

I was listening to a podcast with Dr. Christine McIntyre, a psychotherapist whose work combines both the psychological and spiritual. She said, "All of existence is spiritual warfare and you are playing for one team or are being sucked into playing for the other. At every moment, you either give Mary's fiat or Lucifer's fiat."

We are engaged in a spiritual battle—not because we are bad people, but because it is our nature. Paul wrote, Why do I do what I don't want to do and don't do what I want? Should we expect to be any different from St. Paul?

Anyone who loves God and wants communion with Him will face attacks designed to draw him away from God. Even someone who doesn't know God faces spiritual attacks to keep him blinded to the presence of God in the world. So whether we are believers or not, we are in the battle.

We have a choice at every moment to either choose God's will or Satan's. The battle is in the choices we make.

When bored, we can choose to read or listen to something to feed our souls, or we can scroll through meaningless stories on the internet. When tired, we can choose to control our impatience and act with charity or be short with someone who is annoying us. When tempted, we can choose to say no, or we can feed our passions. When we fail, we can offer our disappointment to God and receive His comfort, or we can surrender to the lies of Satan that tell us we are losers.

Those are just some ways we battle every day.

Why does Satan hate us so much? Why can't he just leave us alone? He made his choice. A free choice to leave Heaven. Why not let us make a free choice? God is his enemy and he will battle God until the end of time. We are God's children, and so we are his enemy as well. We are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis), and Satan wants to destroy that image. He can't beat God because God is all-powerful. But he can attack us and make us suffer and steal our peace because we are much weaker.

Satan's attacks are many. The Biblical names of Satan give us some idea of the tactics he uses: accuser, adversary, deceiver, evil one, father of lies, murderer, power of darkness, tempter.

Have you felt shamed and hopeless? That's the accuser. Have you had obstacles to getting to church on Sunday? That's the adversary. Have you believed something about God that isn't true? That's the deceiver. Have you been the victim of trauma as a child or adult? That's the evil one. Have you believed lies about yourself or others? That's the father of lies. Have you been tempted to do something that you knew was wrong? That's the tempter. Have you been confused about what to do when a decision is pending—you feel you can't think straight? That's the power of darkness.

Since we aren't saints yet, we aren't perfect yet, we aren't in heaven yet, we are still in the battle. We are still fighting the good fight. To think otherwise is a deception of the devil.

The battle is real. So what do we do? We fight. But how?

The first step is to know ourselves. Satan will attack our weakest place. With self-knowledge, I can identify that and protect myself. If I am constantly shoring up my weak flank, I get stronger in the battle.

That leads to the question, how can I figure out what my weakness is? How can I know when I'm under attack? This is where Madeline comes in. Miss Clavel said, "Something is not right!" If I know what God wants for me and I don't have it, I am under attack. For example:

• God wants us to have peace—his peace—not the peace of the world. Am I feeling God's peace? If the answer is no, I am under attack. What is stealing my peace?

• God wants us to be united to Him, in communion with Him. I am the vine, you are the branches. Am I in communion with God? Do I know He is with me, even if I don't feel His presence? If the answer is no, I am under attack. What is blocking my knowledge of God's presence?

• God wants (even commands) to be first in our lives. No idols. Does God come first? Do I seek peace through Him rather than other sources? Do I trust God's providence rather than myself and my desires? If the answer is no, I am under attack. What or who have I chosen instead of God?

This is good stuff to take to prayer. We can't fight the spiritual battle when we don't know what's happening. We can't become stronger without identifying our weaknesses. We can ask God to reveal them to us.

As you explore your spiritual weaknesses, it's good to approach this with curiosity. I wonder why I am so easily tempted. I wonder why I am fooled by the deception. I wonder why I think so much or so little of myself. I wonder why I don't trust God completely. That's curiosity.

Satan doesn't want curiosity. He wants condemnation. What's wrong with me? Why can't I get this right? God will never forgive this. I am hopeless. Unloveable. Worthless. Doomed.

When you hear these messages in your head, know that you are under attack. They are lies of the devil. Something is not right.

The devil is real and is attacking you, but that's not the end. There is more to come about spiritual warfare in upcoming blog posts. My next posts will cover the many ways we are attacked and why those attacks are so effective. Keep reading!

Questions for prayer:

1. Which of the devil’s identities is most present in my life?

2. How can I be more curious about my weaknesses and better fight the spiritual battle?