Guys,
this one's a bit different, more on the philosophical side, but it's
really what God's been doing with me. Also, there's a whole lot
more that I have to say about this stuff, so if you have any
questions, please ask. I hope this benefits you as it now does me.

Why
do we have to wage spiritual warfare?

Why
can't God intervene and stop the devil from attacking us?

And
if God is all powerful, if the devil is attacking us, doesn't that
mean He's allowing the enemy to attack us?

These
are the questions that I've dealt with recently, prayed over, and
really feel like God's given me some insight about.

First
of all, the first two questions go hand in hand, because since God is
all powerful, He could intervene in my life and stop the devil from
attacking me. Which makes me ask “God, why don't you do this? It
seems like you're just letting the devil attack me.”

Well,
in response to this, let's say God did always intervene. He never
allowed the devil to throw anything at my life to divert me from Him.
But think about that. That would mean all temptation would not
exist, because temptation is of the devil, and if God always stopped
the devil from attacking us, then temptation would not exist.

However,
we know temptation does exist. Furthermore, we know that God created
us for the sole purpose of having a relationship with Him: as can be
proven by Christ's sacrifice on the cross

Which
leads back to the question: “If God wants us to have a relationship
with us, why would an all powerful God allow the devil to hinder that
relationship in any way?

Well,
essentially, the answer to all of these questions is free will.

Because
the only way God “could never allow the devil to attack us” is if
He always intervened. Why? I look at it this way. God
always keeps me from having lustful thoughts, but then there's one
time that He doesn't. Well, that one time is going to be the time
that I have to resist it, quote scripture, pray, wage spiritual
warfare, to overcome it.

So
the only way spiritual warfare doesn't exist is if God always
intervenes and stops the temptation from coming.

Well,
doesn't that mean that I'm never really choosing to serve God? If
every single time there's any type of distraction or challenge to my
faith, God stops it, am I really choosing to serve God? Or is God
keeping me in continuous ignorance to the world, and He's more or
less manipulating me to serve Him?

That's
my opinion. Either God allows us to wage spiritual warfare, or He
always intervenes and renders us as people living a robotic spiritual
life. Never really choosing to serve Him, but only doing so because
we don't know the alternative.

But
the problem with this is, as I said earlier,is that it seems God's
allowing the devil to attack us.

However,
in response to this, I say that God has fully equipped us to wage war
against the enemy. Look at it this way.

Someone
trains his student to be a great warrior. But if every time this
warrior has a chance to fight, the trainer intervenes, would this
warrior ever be as great as the trainer wanted? Furthermore,
wouldn't the warrior begin to get frustrated, and actually want to
start implementing what he's learned, so he could become a better
fighter?

That's how I see it. We live in a
lost world, and the moment we start trying to win them to Christ, the
devil's going to come at us with all he has. And I don't know about
you guys, but I want to be as rooted and trained in the art of
spiritual combat as any, so that when I step onto the devil's turf,
he knows he's facing someone God's fully prepared to achieve victory,
and not someone cooped up inside a life of spiritual ignorance.
Spiritual warfare is a necessity. We need it in our lives as
Christians, for without it, we can never be truly rooted in our
faith. That, in my opinion, is why it exists.