The War Mode by Francis Frangipane

I was seventeen years old, a senior in high school, and was slouching into my desk when an angry student almost twice my size entered the room. In a storm of spit and fire, he burst toward where I was sitting, grabbed me by my neck and began rearranging my facial features with his fist.

Someone had written a derogatory remark about him on the inside of his notebook and signed my name to it. Obviously, there was more going on in the Big Guy's life than anyone realized. Whatever other frustrations had been accumulating in his heart, his immediate goal was to release his fury on the latest offender, whom he considered to be me.

I should also mention that at the time I was five foot nine and weighed about 135 pounds. I was not a confrontational guy and had, in fact, developed several clever ways of avoiding conflict while still appearing relatively cool among my friends. However, it does not matter what one's philosophy is concerning physical violence when one is actually in a fight, especially with an angry giant. Big Guy was looking for blood. I quickly realized that if this attack was going to end, it would be because I put my whole heart into fighting back.

Once I accepted that I had no choice but to fight, something amazing happened inside me. Instead of my fear getting worse, it actually left. The energy that had been expended through fear was suddenly mobilized for my defense. At that moment, unexpectedly, I discovered another dimension of my soul: the war mode.

Frankly, I did not even know I had a war mode, but when Big Guy reached down to pick me up for "round two," my fight instincts clicked into action. It had been easy for him to throw me around when I was not resisting, but now I sprang upward with a punch that landed squarely on his nose. He fell back a step. I hit him again two or three times and then jumped on him while he was off balance, knocking him to the floor. I admit it is possible, on reflection, that he stumbled over a chair and my punch had nothing to do with his fall, but it did not matter. When his back hit the floor, there was a 135-pound Sicilian on top of him.

By now, students were pulling me off of him. Blood was pouring from his nose, and his friends were calling me a bully. When the teacher entered the room, it plainly looked as though I was the aggressor and Big Guy the victim, cowering beneath my relentless assault.

I nearly failed to graduate because of the incident, but I did not care. Something inside me had changed. I had found the war mode. I still did not look for a fight, but I was not afraid of one either.

Passivity Is Not Peace
Why am I telling you this story? First of all, it is not because I think physical violence is the answer to our problems. Unless we are in the military or law enforcement, physical violence is not God’s answer to what troubles us. I related this incident to emphasize that there is a "war mode" that exists in each one of us. You may be facing a foe bigger than you – maybe it’s sin or demonic attacks, or perhaps your kids are drifting away from God, or your community or church is declining spiritually – but a point comes when living under oppression is no longer acceptable to you!It is at the moment that you say "enough!" that God begins to activate the war mode inside of you.

This mode of thinking is not a virtue in itself. Yet, just as we surrender our hearts, minds and bodies to God, so we can surrender this aspect of the soul, and find God’s grace anointing us to fight the fight of faith.

The fact is, we are at war on a global scale. We are fighting the influence of immoral and perverse leaders in our culture; and on an international level, facing Islamic terrorism and manipulation. Who will protect the future for our children? You see, it is up to us to defend our communities, to reinforce moral values and bring redemptive change to our world.

Again, we are not talking about physical or carnal warfare – Paul said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty! (See 2 Cor. 10:4.) We need to take up the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17). Fighting for righteousness is not an advanced stage of spiritual development; it actually is basic. Everyone needs to learn how to pray, to take spiritual authority, and to speak the Word of God with faith. We cannot be intimidated by our enemies' threats as we stand against the advances of darkness.

You see, too many have settled for a false peace, which is the result of compromise and fear. God wants us to have true peace, which comes from faith in Christ and victory over evil.

Today many are weary with world events. Part of this weariness is because our hearts are divided. We need to get over our reluctance in facing our enemies. Stop worrying about making the devil mad and get mad yourself – be angry, but do not sin! There is a legitimate "time for war" (Eccles. 3:8) and we are in it.

The sooner we switch into war mode, the faster we will tap into the moral resolve needed to defeat personal oppression and secure victory. As we are changed, so we can begin to influence the world around us. So rebuke passivity and take authority over self-pity. God will give grace to prevail.

Consider also Isaiah’s revelation about the Lord. The prophet wrote:

"The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies" (Isa. 42:13).

The Lord is a warrior and He desires you to become a warrior as well. Shake off the weariness and get back into the Word of God. If you were knocked down, get up. It’s time to reactivate your war mode.

Master, I submit to Your anointing for warfare. I renounce being a coward or embracing a false peace based on compromise. I submit to the fighter in You, who can sanctify the fighter in me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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The preceding message is adapted from a chapter in Francis' book, This Day We Fight published by Chosen Books . For ordering information, please visit the Arrow Bookstore at www.arrowbookstore.com.

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