Time to Walk Away

Common sense dictates that we must pick our battles wisely. We simply cannot enter every single fight, lest we exhaust ourselves. For example, when we are being falsely accused of something, we will always feel the need to defend ourselves. At times this might be right. At other times, the wise thing to do is just to walk away.

The Bible tells us we are in an ongoing spiritual battle and that the enemy does attack us. We have probably all heard teaching and sermons on spiritual warfare. There is a genuine need to stand against the enemy and actively engage in these battles. But here, too, sometimes the best thing may be to simply walk away.

The enemy is good at causing distractions. He tries to get our undivided attention so that our eyes are no longer on the Lord. Earlier this year I felt I was in a genuine spiritual battle. I felt the enemy was relentlessly bombarding me. A struggle I had had for many years suddenly intensified. As I sought the Lord what to do, He simply said to me: “Peter, just walk away.” I must admit this felt counterintuitive and it took some trust to believe that I had heard Him right. But as I obeyed, the battle seemed to just fade away. Something I had struggled with deeply for many years simply disappeared. I experienced the truth of the Bible when it says that God is not only our shield, but also our rear guard. Without any effort on my part, God had defeated the enemy. It felt to me as if I had shed an old skin and entered a completely new phase of life.

I am sharing this personal experience because I want you to consider the option of walking away when the enemy presses in. Instead of having a knee-jerk reaction of engaging in battle, ask the Lord how He wants you to approach this battle. He might want you to rise up and fight. But it might be just another distraction. Perhaps God might want to fight on your behalf as you trust in Him.

As the leader of Israel’s army, King David faced physical enemies who wanted to destroy him. To David’s credit, he diligently sought the Lord for each battle. The Bible records a great variety of ways in which David was able to defeat his enemies by applying the specific tactics the Lord gave him in response to prayer. What we learn is that God will always defeat the enemy, but not always in the same way. Sometimes we need to fight, and sometimes we just need to walk away.

Prayer: Lord, thank You that You are my Protector. Help me to know how to fight and also when to fight or when to walk away.