What a battle it is out there! Things seem to be getting crazy in our world and things are spiraling faster and faster out of control. We’re in the midst of some of the most challenging times in our lives. What’s going on in life right now is the most foundational battle ever known to man. It’s the battle of good against evil.
But hold on! This battle may not be exactly what you think. The battle of good vs evil isn’t about one man against another or one party against another. It’s truly the battle of ultimate good facing off against ultimate evil.
I recently heard author, Jon Gordon, speak about one of his books. He was talking about this battle of good and evil referring to it through the lenses of what he called the 5 D’s. These five D’s are foundational to understanding who the real enemy is in life.
Doubt
At the outset, most conflict is brought on because some level of doubt is brought into view. We doubt if we’re loved. We doubt if we’re good enough. We doubt if they have our best intentions at heart. We doubt if what we have is good enough. Doubt is looking at what we don’t have instead of seeing everything we do have.
Distortion
When we start to doubt that what we have is enough it begins to distort the truth. We begin to believe the lies that these doubts bring up in our mind. They act like fog, preventing us from seeing what’s right in front of us with any clarity at all. We’re so overcome by the doubt factor that truth is distorted. But it doesn’t end there.
Discouragement
Beyond distortion sits the enemy of discouragement. When doubt settles in and prevents us from seeing reality as it stands in front of us, then we easily get discouraged. When we can’t see the clear path ahead of us we get disheartened and discouraged. You see none of this has to do with the people around us or the events happening to us. It’s really about vision and how we see things.
Distraction
When discouragement takes root in our lives, we lose focus altogether. Our attention moves to other things that are mundane at best and destructive at worst. We tend to major in the minors so to speak as discouragement gives birth to distraction. As we continue to battle against the enemy of doubt, we quickly lose all footing and slide off course into an unhealthy spiral distracting us from what’s important.
Division
Finally, when we’ve run the course of doubt, distortion, discouragement and distraction the final step is division. The ultimate goal of any war is division. The enemy wants to break down the unified front we have to problems. We’re living in a world that has become so fragmented that unity has all but left.
You see the problem isn’t the people around us. The problem is doubt. The enemy has brought doubt into our lives over so many things. But your friend with a different viewpoint on life is not your enemy. The president for whom you did not vote is not the enemy. The party with which you’re not affiliated is not the enemy. The enemy is the darkness of doubt that spirals all of this out of control causing so much chaos and fear and division.
Stay strong my friends. Hold each other close. Value friendship. Cherish differences. Be civil in disagreement. Most of all speak truth and focus on the things you do have instead of the things you lack.
We carry such a weight through life it’s almost crazy. We were never intended to have this kind of load on our shoulders. Worry, anxiety, fear, mistakes…they all just sit on our shoulders and heap a load on us that often we can’t even stand.