Fighting a Ghost

There was an old weight room at the place I used to work. It was the kind of room that made you feel stronger when you walked in. Cinderblock walls, dirty mirrors that no one bothered to hang and the smell of oxidized metal. When I first found the space I discovered a heavy bag propped up in the corner. After tracking down some reinforced cord strapping, I removed a few ceiling panels and hung the bag from an open-web steel joist. Once a week or so I’d visit the weight room to take out my frustration on the bag. It wasn’t always clear who or what I was fighting or why I was tense in the first place. I had an impulse to face an unseen opponent. Evil is real and we were made to confront it. But our enemy intimidated by a closed fist or boot laces. It is a spiritual enemy older than the human race. It is an enemy who lies to us about who we are and who God is. If we ignore that reality, we will either fight each other or we will resign altogether and loose a significant part of what we were made for. Kicking a heavy bag is a good way to release stress but to deal with the real battle we need to strike back with the truth.