Lectio
“Faith means battles. If there are no contests, it is because there are none who desire to contend.”
— Ambrose of Milan, A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints
Meditatio
The nearer Christ draws us to Himself, the more fiercely the evil one fights to lure us away from Him. Satan uses every trick, trial, and temptation he can in an attempt to keep us away from God, which is to say, to keep us away from Love. Satan is a loveless being, tortured by the fact of God’s unconditional and unwavering love for His creatures. It is a love even the prince of darkness cannot escape, and it burns him by way of his rejection of it for all eternity. He desires to separate all of God’s children from God so that they may suffer the same torment: an eternity spent in rejection of love.
If this is so, then the contests we face are not evidence of our distance from God — they are evidence of the opposite. The fiercer the battle, the nearer Christ has already drawn us to Himself; the war is not something we wage to reach Him, but something waged against us because He has already come close. Our part is not to fight our way toward grace, but simply to not turn away from the nearness already given — to remain, to not refuse.
In solidarity with us, His adopted brothers and sisters, Jesus Himself faced these very same battles against Satan — the hunger of the flesh, pride of heart, the seduction of power — and He overcame them for us, as the new Adam, setting right our wrongs so that we may have life where Adam’s sin brought death.
And so, when we are tempted in these ways, by His grace, already mysteriously working in us, God turns Satan’s tricks into proof of His truth, the devil’s trials into our own conversion, and the evil one’s temptations into our means of salvation.
Even when we fail where Christ did not, even when we stumble and fall into sin again and again, God already loves and forgives us even when we least deserve it — especially when we least deserve it.
Because if the evil one were not fighting for our souls, it would mean he already possessed them. His eternal unrest is aimed entirely at our unrest, his brokenness at ours, and his turning away from love at turning us away from love also. He will not stop attacking us — our bodies, our faith, and our pride — for as long as we have hope in Christ. The evil one’s assaults, therefore, are proof that we are still being fought for by Christ, still being reached for by Love
Oratio
None Of This
none of this
is as I hoped
none of this
is what I wanted
none of this
is what I imagined
I feel lost
in the wilderness
alone and frightened
did I do this
did I bring it upon myself
You feel so distant
so silent
unseen
I need You now
my God
I need You now
lead me out
of this hostile land
bring me home
Contemplatio
The evil one will not rest while you draw breath in Christ. His eternal unrest, his refusal to surrender you, his endless assault — these testify to something he cannot bear: that you are still being reached for by Love, that you belong to Christ. You cannot see this victory. But the contest itself is your proof. Hold this truth in stillness, withholding nothing, and let Him move as He will.
Related Scripture
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Becoming Love’s Flame: On Surrender and the Living Flame of Love (Lectio Divina), which moves from understanding how we are fought for in Christ toward recognizing the Love that has already claimed us, inviting deeper surrender to the grace already operative in our lives.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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