One of my favorite hymns is “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”
Martin Luther wrote it in the midst of enormous spiritual pressures. Satan wanted
to destroy him, as the Catholic monk worked to spread the revelation of grace
that led to the Protestant Reformation. One night, Satan attacked him so
strongly that Luther threw an inkwell at him. The stain of the ink remained on
the walls of Wartburg Castle, where Luther lived, for centuries.
Something about that image, of an ink-stained wall that way
outlasted Luther’s life, captures me. Something about taking Satan so seriously
that he threw an object at him. Something about the image of the man,
cloistered in a castle, fighting for his life and the life of God’s people.
Martin Luther took spiritual realities seriously. The hymn speaks
of Satan’s power and God’s greater power. “One little word shall fell him,”
referring to the power of the name of Jesus against the enemy’s small power. When
we are involved in spiritually sensitive activities, we can be the enemy’s
target. I’m involved in planning for a city-wide prayer meeting. Tuesday night,
driving home after small group, lights suddenly flashed behind me. The young
policeman told me I’d run the stop sign. I thought I’d stopped. He gave me a
written warning. I thanked him, went home and slept.
Was that Satan’s niggling attack, wanting to upset me in the
face of the upcoming prayer meeting? Seems like it. But Jesus is victor. When
we face various trials, in Jesus, we can, as 1 Peter says, “count it all joy.” We
can count it so because “God has willed His truth to triumph through us.”
Come Holy Spirit. Reveal the spiritual realities around us,
especially your great power and love that triumphs over all the arrows of the
evil one.