What is it about the dark that plays on our deepest fears? 
It’s as if with the flip of a switch, our nightmares are unleashed; bringing terror to the forefront of our mind and allowing the imagination to run wild.

It started young… unable to fall asleep without a night light on or the door cracked open. There was something about the way the shadows cast against the wall that caused us to see things that weren’t actually there; we would run from our rooms into a safe place.

While we’d like to think we have outgrown those childish ways, the truth is we haven’t at all. Actually, it’s gotten worse as the years have passed. Sure, we may not be trembling at bedtime, but fear is most definitely present throughout our day. The shadows of uncertainty blanketed over us make it difficult to decipher truth from lie; we turn and run, just to face them again tomorrow…and the days thereafter.

Isn’t it telling that most attacks happen in darkness; be it a predator ambushing its prey or a thief making his move. 

Surely if we are facing a spiritual enemy, his attack would likewise come in spiritual darkness, when our senses are diminished. In this state, whether we are taken quickly in an instant or slowly lured to our demise, we are easy targets.

We all like to think we have it figured out, convincing ourselves we know exactly what, or who, is the cause of our oppression; and yet often we are merely looking at a shadow of the actual threat who is coming from behind. 

By the time this happens, we are scrambling to load our rifle, dropping bullets through our shaky fingers before frantically firing rounds into the dark; trigger happy with no idea where to direct our aim, we risk hitting others in our camp… and sometimes do just that. 

Men, we must not allow ourselves to reach this point. We must remain in complete control if we are to be the hunter and not the hunted. Identifying the unique threats that cause us to panic and pull our trigger is critical to understanding the safety measures we can apply to protect ourselves and others; firing should be a last resort and done with complete accuracy. 

And you may be wondering how do we even hunt in these dark places, where the line between truth and lie is blurred? To start, we must take the lies out one at a time; intentionally firing specifically chosen bullets of truth right through the head of the lie… one shot kill. 

Knowing these truths and having them front of mind will allow us to eliminate the danger before it even becomes a second thought. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says we must ‘… take every thought captive‘ and make it obedient to the Truth. How often we let thoughts slip through the fence and into our camp without holding them captive under the light of Truth, and then wonder why we feel outnumbered and threatened in our own space.

Only when we begin to capture each and every thought can we eliminate the ferocious shadows that, for far too long, have been allowed to run rampant in our midst; crippling us in our tents at night as we watch them pass by.

With the shadows gone, we can stand firm and keep the real enemy forever fixed in our cross hairs; ensuring his claws are kept far from our hearts.