Voice Your Victory

Today I got the opportunity to participate in a women's self-defense class. I knew it would be beneficial to learn defense mechanisms and emergency procedures; however, I was unaware God would show me Spiritual meanings throughout the workshop. First, we learned statistics about rape. The woman who started the class was a rape victim. However, instead of living with a victim mentality, she started this workshop to educate and enable other women to defend themselves. Instead of allowing her experience to define her, she only lets it describe her. It is a chapter of her story, but not her entire story. She knows she is strong, resilient, and prepared. She is not a victim but a victor. Through Christ, our chains are broken and we no longer have to be victims; instead, we can live in victory.

Then, I learned statistics about rape in Oklahoma. Oklahoma has one of the highest rape percentages out of all the states. These opened my eyes. As Christians, we must be the light, but we must be aware we live in a dark world. Not only will we encounter physical attacks, like rape and assault, but as believers, we will encounter spiritual attacks. We must be prepared.

Ephesians 6:12-13 states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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.”

In the class, we learned an effective defensive stance. It surprised me because the stance included a step backward. When defending myself, my first instinct is to step forward, ready to fight. However, stepping back stabilized our body weight. Similarly, when we fight spiritually, we must step back and let God take control. For when we are weak, He is strong. When we step back and trust in God instead of our ability, we are stable and standing on solid ground.

After learning the stance, we practiced pushing dummies and attempted to knock them to the ground. Try after try, I failed. I did not believe I was strong enough to knock them down. Then, the instructor told us to yell “Get Back!” as we shoved the dummies. It was my turn again. As I shouted, the dummy fell to the ground. There is power in your voice. There is power in your words. The same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in us. The enemy flees in the name of Jesus, and we are children of the King above all Kings. We must live in this authority.

This experience reminded me of the Wall of Jericho in the Bible. Joshua was leading the Israelites to claim the Promised Land. There was one problem. Jericho was surrounded by a wall eleven feet high and fourteen feet wide. God spoke to Joshua. He told him to instruct the the Israelites march around the wall for six days, and on the seventh day shout. Day after day, the Israelites marched. The wall remained standing. Then, on the seventh day, as they shouted, the walls came crashing down.

Some of you feel like you are stuck. You are marching day after day in vain. Your situation is not changing. You are in a season of waiting. Maybe you feel like You feel as if your wall is too high for God to break. Use your voice! Use your authority in Christ and God’s word to Declare your identity. When you do so, walls start tumbling down and the atmosphere will shift.