The Art of War

Sun Tzu once wrote a book called "The Art of War", in which he outlines the tactics that commanding officers should take in battle. This book has become something of a timeless classic for the way it combines straightforward simplicity with cunning logic. It is still widely read, even today, by both business executives and those in the military.

One of the principles is to strike your enemy where they are weakest. Such simple advice, yet so profound and difficult to detect until it is too late. And it is exactly what the devil tries to do to us.

Before I go further, let me say that I do not believe in the statement, "The devil made me do it." Such a statement says that he has power over your decisions and he doesn't. All he can do is tempt you and provoke you, he cannot force you. He can send things your way as well, as allowed by God, but only you can determine how you respond to trials.

If your weakness is relationships, particularly a feeling of loneliness, he's going to keep bringing up thoughts in your mind of how little you deserve good friendships or relationships. If you struggle with feelings of not being good enough at what you do, he's going to call your abilities into question all the time. If life is pretty good, he's going to tell you that you don't need God or show you all the entertainment options available. No matter what your life situation is, you have a weak point and he has a way to exploit it if you let him.

What is the point in attacking you? Well, that's another principle: do not let your enemy become strong enough to defeat you. The devil's main goal isn't to cause as much pain in your life as possible; it's to get you as far from God as possible. If the surest way to do that is to shower you with money, relationships, and power, he'll do that (if God allows it, of course.) If it's happy thoughts about any number of things, he'll send those by the truckload. Anything to keep your mind on you and off God. Why? Because he knows that God is the only chance you have of defeating him. You're not more cunning or more knowledgeable than the devil. You don't have his ruthlessness. You don't have his power in and of yourself. Your only hope is God.

You're always going to have weak points because you, as a human, are weak. Actually, if you ever got to the point where you had no weaknesses, it would rob you of the need of your one true Strength and, without that Strength, without God, the devil can overcome any of your other stronger points.

Here's another way to consider it. You're out in the wilderness. You have a suit of armor, a sharp sword, and a good shield. But there's this dragon, 100 feet long, nearly impenetrable scales, breathes fire, flies, and is far too smart to be taken in by any tricks you might have. It wouldn't matter if you were the most fearsome warrior on the planet, you don't stand a chance against this beast by yourself.

There's a king who offers to protect you inside his palace. He is so powerful that even the dragon can't attack him. As long as you are in the palace, you are safe. But the dragon knows it, and so he offers you jewels from the treasures he's collected over the years. He has a treasure to appeal to you, no matter what your tastes, and he knows just what you want. All you have to do is leave the palace.

Ok, now we can all agree, it'd be pretty insane to leave the palace under these circumstances. All that means is that we're all insane because that is precisely what we continue to do. Something is in the world that we want, so we foolishly chase it rather than stay where we know we're safe.

And the dragon might not attack immediately. No, he doesn't just want to harm you and sometimes he can't by the king's decree, but the king won't bind you to the palace, either. The dragon will offer you one small thing you want, and you take it, then scurry back to the palace. Then he'll offer it again, and watch you take it. And again. And soon, he has you not running back to the palace - where you have to leave your treasures outside - quite so fast. Then you start staying outside and waiting for something else. Then you eventually forget that you have somewhere to go when a storm comes and the dragon tells you the king is angry with you and you don't have a chance to return. So you stay in the rain...and the dragon watches with glee as you slowly perish among your treasures.

Do not be deceived into thinking this is not real. It is all that is truly real. This world will end, and we will end much sooner, so this struggle over your soul is the only thing of consequence. Even believing it is not real is a powerful tool to keep you away from God, to keep you from discovering just how badly you need to be in the palace with the King. We are at war, and He is our only chance of winning.