Reed’s Reads of Wisdom Wednesdays™: The Enemy Wants You Distracted From the Battle That Actually Matters
The enemy does not always need to defeat you if he can distract you. He does not always need to knock you down if he can convince you to run in the wrong direction. He does not always need to take away your strength if he can persuade you to waste it. He does not always need to stop your calling if he can keep you so consumed with arguments, offenses, fear, jealousy, frustration and secondary battles that you forget what God actually called you to do.
That is one of the most important spiritual lessons running through S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™: The Angelo™ & Angeline™ Chronicles. The heroes face demons, monsters, supernatural armies and forces powerful enough to destroy worlds, but some of their most dangerous moments come when their attention shifts away from the real enemy. Personal pain can distort priorities. Fear can magnify the wrong threat. Pride can make correction feel like disrespect. Conflict can cause people who should be standing together to waste precious strength on one another. Again and again, darkness tries to make the heroes spend valuable energy on something other than the battle that actually matters.
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us why discernment is necessary: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
That scripture forces us to ask a difficult question: Am I fighting the real enemy—or just the person standing in front of me?
Distraction Can Be a Weapon
We usually think of distraction as something small. A ringing phone. A television playing in the background. A social media notification. Something that briefly steals our attention.
But spiritual distraction can be far more dangerous. It can consume months. It can destroy relationships. It can divide teams. It can exhaust people who should be preparing for something greater. It can cause someone to spend so much time answering criticism that they stop building what God told them to build. It can make people so obsessed with proving themselves right that they forget why they entered the fight in the first place.
Darkness understands the value of misplaced attention. If the enemy cannot stop you from fighting, he may simply give you the wrong fight. If he cannot stop you from using your strength, he may encourage you to use it against the wrong person. If he cannot make you quit your mission, he may bury your mission beneath so many distractions that you no longer have enough emotional, spiritual or physical energy left to complete it.
That is still a victory for darkness.
Jeff’s Pain Pointed Him Toward the Wrong Target
Book I gives us one of the clearest examples of how pain can distract us from the real battle. Jeff is carrying grief, anger and frustration from everything he has endured. Those emotions are real, and his pain is understandable. But instead of keeping his attention completely on the forces of darkness responsible for the suffering around him, some of that anger becomes directed toward Angelo™.
While Jeff and Angeline™ are physically battling the enemy, Jeff is also wrestling emotionally with what he believes Angelo™ has done—or failed to do. His frustration begins pulling his attention away from the larger mission.
Angeline™ has to help bring that mission back into focus. There is still an enemy to confront. There are still people who need protection. There is still a Demon Master whose darkness threatens far more than any personal disagreement between heroes.
Jeff may be fighting demons with his staff, but emotionally he is fighting someone who should be on the same side. That is the distraction. His pain has pointed him toward the wrong target.
And that happens in real life more often than we want to admit. Sometimes we are angry at people when the deeper enemy is grief. Sometimes we are fighting our spouse when the real battle is stress, exhaustion or unresolved pain. Sometimes churches fight one another while communities around them desperately need ministry. Sometimes families spend years arguing about old offenses while time, aging and distance quietly steal opportunities they will never get back.
Sometimes we become so focused on who disappointed us that we stop confronting what is actually destroying our peace. The enemy loves a misplaced target.
You Can Be Fighting Hard and Still Be Fighting Wrong
That may be one of the hardest truths in this message. Activity does not always equal progress.
You can be passionate and still be distracted. You can be exhausted and still be moving in the wrong direction. You can spend enormous amounts of energy fighting what is directly in front of you while never dealing with the source of what keeps producing the problem.
Angelo™ learns this lesson during one of the team’s battles in Book I. The heroes are surrounded by threats demanding their immediate attention, but simply fighting one problem after another is not enough. At some point, Angelo™ has to look beyond what is directly in front of him and recognize that the team must deal with the source.
That distinction changes everything. There is wisdom in that far beyond a fictional battle.
Sometimes we spend years fighting symptoms while ignoring sources.
We fight financial emergencies without confronting destructive spending habits.
We fight repeated relationship conflicts without confronting the unresolved wound underneath them.
We fight exhaustion without confronting the inability to say no.
We fight resentment without confronting unforgiveness.
We fight anxiety around particular situations without asking what fear beneath the surface keeps giving those situations power.
Sometimes we keep fighting what is being produced instead of confronting what keeps producing it.
Ask Yourself: What Is Producing This Battle?
Discernment asks deeper questions.
What keeps producing this problem?
Why does this conflict keep returning?
Why does this particular person or situation have so much power over my emotions?
Why am I spending so much energy here?
What am I neglecting while I fight this?
What actually changes if I win this argument?
Am I defending something God told me to defend, or am I defending my pride?
Those questions can be uncomfortable because they force us to move beyond the obvious. It is easier to fight whatever is directly in front of us. It takes wisdom to look deeper and identify the source.
Darkness Loves Division Because Division Wastes Strength
Book II takes the lesson of distraction even deeper. Angelo™ and Jeff are supposed to be on the same side. They share a mission. They have enemies who threaten innocent people, and their combined strength is far more valuable when it is pointed toward the darkness they were called to fight.
But darkness understands something dangerous about division: if allies can be distracted by pride, insecurity, comparison or personal conflict, they can begin wasting strength on one another instead of the mission.
That is one of the spiritual dangers explored in Book II. When people who should be fighting together begin treating each other like enemies, the real enemy benefits. Every ounce of energy spent proving who is better is energy no longer being used for the mission. Every unnecessary argument creates another wound that may eventually need healing. Every division makes the team weaker.
That is why division can be so destructive in families, churches, organizations, friendships and communities. People who could accomplish extraordinary things together can become so consumed with proving each other wrong that they forget why they came together in the first place.
The enemy does not always have to destroy the team. Sometimes he only has to make the team forget why it exists.
Ephesians 6:12 Changes Who We See as the Enemy
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…” That first part of Ephesians 6:12 should change how we approach conflict.
It does not mean people never do wrong. They do.
It does not mean harmful behavior should be ignored. It should not.
It does not mean accountability disappears because we call something spiritual warfare. Accountability still matters.
But the scripture reminds us that there is a larger spiritual reality operating beyond human conflict. The person standing in front of you may be wrong, but destroying that person may still not solve the real problem. Winning the argument may not heal the marriage. Embarrassing the critic may not advance the mission. Proving you were right may not restore the relationship. Getting revenge may not heal the wound.
Sometimes the enemy would love for us to become so obsessed with defeating a person that we completely forget to defeat the bitterness, pride, hatred, fear or division growing inside us. That is why discernment matters.
The Enemy Wants Your Energy
Your energy is valuable.
Your attention is valuable.
Your time is valuable.
Your emotional strength is valuable.
Your creativity is valuable.
Your prayer life is valuable.
Your focus is valuable.
Darkness understands that.
So if the enemy cannot take your gifts away, distraction may become the next strategy.
He may keep you angry about things you cannot change.
He may keep you watching what everyone else is doing while your own assignment sits unfinished.
He may keep you comparing yourself to someone else until you no longer appreciate what God placed inside you.
He may keep you revisiting conversations that ended months ago.
He may keep you imagining arguments that have not even happened.
He may keep you chasing validation from people who were never assigned to understand your calling.
And while you are doing all of that, the mission waits. That is the danger. Not everything demanding your attention deserves your attention.
Some Battles Are Designed to Drain You
There are conflicts you can technically win and still lose something more valuable.
You can win an argument and lose peace.
You can prove your point and damage trust.
You can answer every critic and lose hours that should have gone toward purpose.
You can stay angry long enough to feel justified and still lose sleep, joy and emotional strength.
That is why every battle needs to be examined before it is entered. Ask yourself: What happens if I refuse to fight this? Not because you are afraid. Not because you are weak. But because you finally understand that your strength has an assignment and you refuse to waste it.
Wiseman J understands this better than almost anyone in S.O.L.A.D.™. He repeatedly tries to keep those around him focused on the larger mission instead of anger, frustration or personal offense. His wisdom is valuable because he understands something emotion often forgets:
You cannot afford to spend all your ammunition on distractions. There is still a war to fight.
Sometimes the Distraction Looks Important
The most dangerous distractions do not always look foolish. They can look urgent. They can look justified. They can even look righteous.
Someone can have legitimate reasons for being angry. Someone can have legitimate reasons for defending themselves. Both sides of a conflict can sometimes construct convincing arguments explaining why their emotions are justified. But while they are proving their cases, the larger mission can quietly disappear.
That is how distraction becomes effective. It convinces you that the secondary battle deserves primary attention.
This is why prayer and discernment matter so much. We need God to show us what deserves our strength. We need Him to reveal whether something is truly an assignment or simply an interruption wearing the clothes of urgency.
Everything important is not equally important.
Everything true does not need to be addressed today.
Every offense does not deserve a response.
Every critic does not deserve access to your energy.
Every problem is not yours to solve.
Sometimes wisdom sounds like: Stay focused.
Stop Giving Side Battles Main-Battle Energy
That may be the word somebody needs today. Stop giving side battles main-battle energy.
The disagreement may matter, but does it deserve all of you? The criticism may sting, but does answering it move your purpose forward? The offense may be real, but are you spending more time rehearsing what happened than healing from what happened?
The person may have misunderstood you, but do you really need to spend the next week trying to force them to understand?
Meanwhile, there may be prayers that need praying, people who need encouraging, work that needs finishing, family that needs loving, healing that needs pursuing, dreams that need building and assignments that need your full attention.
Do not let something small consume strength that God gave you for something greater.
Focus Is Part of Spiritual Warfare
We often talk about prayer, faith, scripture and spiritual armor when discussing warfare, and all of those are important.
But focus is also a weapon.
A focused person is difficult to derail.
A focused person can recognize bait and leave it untouched.
A focused person understands that every invitation to conflict does not require acceptance.
A focused person remembers the mission when emotions become loud.
That is something Angelo™, Angeline™, Jeff and Wiseman J repeatedly have to learn. Their greatest effectiveness comes when their abilities, wisdom, courage and attention are pointed toward the same objective.
When they become distracted by internal conflict, darkness gains ground. When they refocus, the mission moves forward.
The same is true for us. You cannot control every distraction that appears. But you can decide what gets your attention.
Protect Your Priorities
One way darkness distracts us is by rearranging our priorities. The urgent starts replacing the important. The loud starts replacing the meaningful. Other people’s opinions start replacing God’s direction. Arguments start replacing prayer. Comparison starts replacing gratitude.
Reaction starts replacing discernment. Before long, a person can still be busy every day while moving farther away from the things that matter most.
That is why priorities have to be protected.
What has God actually asked you to do?
Who has He actually entrusted to you?
What needs your attention in this season?
What can wait?
What should be ignored?
What needs prayer instead of reaction?
What needs wisdom instead of anger?
A person who knows the mission becomes harder to distract from it.
Do Not Make People Your Enemy When Darkness Is the Enemy
This does not mean everyone belongs in your life. Boundaries are real. Harmful relationships sometimes require distance. Accountability matters, and forgiveness does not mean allowing abuse or mistreatment.
But even when boundaries are necessary, hatred does not have to become the mission. Ephesians 6:12 keeps reminding us that flesh and blood are not the ultimate enemy.
Your purpose cannot become destroying another person.
Your calling cannot become proving someone wrong.
Your identity cannot become opposition to somebody else.
Throughout the S.O.L.A.D.™ journey, the heroes are strongest when they remember they are allies. Whenever personal emotions threaten that unity, darkness benefits.
That applies to us too.
You do not have to agree with everyone.
You do not have to trust everyone.
You do not have to remain close to everyone.
But be careful about allowing another human being to occupy so much space in your heart that fighting them becomes more important than following God.
The Real Battle Is Often Inside Us Too
Sometimes the distraction is not another person at all. Sometimes it is ourselves.
Our need to be right.
Our fear of being forgotten.
Our jealousy of someone else’s opportunity.
Our insecurity when another person succeeds.
Our anger when our plans change.
Our pride when someone corrects us.
Those internal battles can pull us away from purpose just as effectively as an external enemy. That is what makes Jeff’s struggles so meaningful. Jeff is courageous, but some of his greatest threats come through emotions darkness knows how to manipulate.
The enemy recognizes the place where distraction can enter. We need to recognize it too.
Declaration for the One Refusing Distraction
Speak this over your life:
I will not waste the strength God gave me fighting battles He never assigned to me.
I will not allow offense, jealousy, fear, comparison, anger or unnecessary conflict to steal my focus from the purpose God placed before me.
I will seek wisdom before reacting, prayer before attacking and discernment before deciding what deserves my energy.
I will remember that my ultimate battle is not against flesh and blood.
I will protect my peace, guard my priorities and keep my attention on the mission. Darkness will not defeat me by distracting me.
Final Thoughts
The enemy wants you distracted from the battle that actually matters.
Sometimes he will use fear.
Sometimes he will use anger.
Sometimes he will use comparison.
Sometimes he will use offense.
Sometimes he will use another person.
Sometimes he will surround you with smaller battles and hope you become so exhausted fighting all of them that you have nothing left for the assignment that truly matters.
Do not give him that victory.
Throughout the first two S.O.L.A.D.™ novels, Angelo™, Angeline™, Jeff, Wiseman J and the others repeatedly have to learn how important it is to recognize the difference between the immediate problem and the larger mission. Pain can point them toward the wrong target. Pride can distort priorities. Fear can magnify distractions. Conflict can consume strength that should be aimed somewhere else.
Those moments remind us to look beyond whatever is directly in front of us and ask:
What is the real battle here?
Sometimes the answer will change everything.
You may discover you do not need another argument.
You need healing.
You may discover you do not need revenge.
You need freedom.
You may discover you do not need to prove yourself.
You need focus.
You may even discover that the person you have been fighting was never the real enemy.
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that the battle is larger than flesh and blood. So guard your strength. Protect your attention. Know your priorities. Recognize the distraction. And keep fighting the battle that actually matters.
Step Deeper Into the S.O.L.A.D.™ Journey
If this message spoke to you, I invite you to experience the full journey of S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™: The Angelo™ & Angeline™ Chronicles. The novels are filled with faith, action, spiritual warfare, imperfect heroes, emotional battles, friendship, sacrifice and reminders that the greatest danger is not always the enemy standing directly in front of us.
Sometimes darkness attacks with power. Sometimes it attacks with fear. And sometimes it simply tries to keep us looking in the wrong direction.
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