Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:10-13

If you've been a believer for more than a month or so, you're at least familiar with the verses above. We've been taught that our "problems" on our earth are not people, but the "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places." We know that the enemy of our souls uses people to irritate us, and get in our way. But, if you're like me, you can forget that rather quickly when you're being chewed out, or when you find out someone has been talking about you behind your back, etc.

Well, the Lord has recently given me an example to share with all of you, and I hope it helps and blesses you the way it has helped me.

Imagine you're employed by someone who owns an immense garden filled with every sort of flower and plant you could possibly fathom. Along with watering and feeding the plants, you must keep the weeds at bay. One day you come into work (perhaps after a night filled with interrupted sleep?) to find that weeds have sprung up everywhere overnight and a large portion of the plants are looking wilted and sick. The sight fills you with anger and you wildly start pulling all of the....plants(!) out of their beds and tossing them into the trash heap!

Obviously this sounds a little backwards. The nasty, pesky weeds that were sucking the life out of the plants should have been yanked. As silly as this may seem, this is exactly what we are doing when we get in an uproar at other people (whom God has created and LOVES), instead of the real enemy.

Remember that we're all irritating sometimes, but God loves us anyway. When things are going smoothly, it's easy for us to take the lies that assault our minds and put them in the rubbish where they belong. We are more easily persuaded to react in fear and worry when the mortgage is due in 2 days and the checking account is running low.

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 2 Corinthians 2:14