On the Offensive

I remember reading a story about one of the battles between General Robert E. Lee and General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. General Lee was, of course, the head of the Confederate forces and was known for his brilliant tactics in doing a lot with a little. He did not have the organization of the Union army or the manpower, but he was able to move in an effective way and foil his enemies on a number of occasions. His exploits had become so legendary that the Union soldiers were terrified of him.

One night, some Union soldiers were standing around the campfire talking about General Lee. They said, “What if General Lee does this? What are we going to do?”

General Grant was standing a few feet away. He walked over and said to the soldiers, “The way you boys are talking, you would think that General Lee is going to do a somersault and land in the middle of our camp. Stop talking about what he’s going to do, and let him worry about what we’re going to do.”

Sometimes I see the same thing happening in the church: Oh, the devil is doing this. The devil is doing that. Did you hear about this wicked thing that happened? I think we should stop focusing so much on what the devil is doing and stop worrying so much about what he will do and instead let him worry about what we Christians will do.

Rather than trembling in fear about what the devil is doing, we can rejoice in the power that God has given us to live victoriously and effectively for Him.