Superman Vs Batman

What happens when we spend our time fighting someone who is not our real enemy? We fight as though they were out to do us in, but in truth, both parties are used as pawns by a third who has his own agenda.

I see it in so many movies and T.V. series where two people spend time brawling with each other all the while ignoring their real enemy. I absolutely LOVE snuggling with my hubby every Friday night after youth group for our weekly movie.  We may order Chinese food that night, pop popcorn, feast on chocolate or anything else just to make our movie night amazing.  We don’t pick movies that are girly flicks about strangers falling in love or a loving mother and daughter who are broken when the mother was diagnosed with some deadly disease.  I want something more realistic, something more believable…like…like a man who dresses up like a dark knight saving his city, let’s call it Gotham. He has villains to fight…let’s say that one villain is some random guy who call himself the…Joker.  Now that’s based on real life! That’s something I can relate with, none of that lovey- dovey stuff that happens in some far off land.
I love watching things blow up way in the background while the hero is walking towards the camera fixing his sleeves. Let’s be real, I am not really snuggling with my hubby, I’m usually screaming or hitting him out of pure wonder and anticipation. The screaming can totally be heard by my kids on the second floor, by the way.

Recently I saw the movie Batman vs. Superman with Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill. In this movie, Batman was convinced that Superman was the villain because in a battle between Superman and another villain, it seemed as though Superman was causing chaos and bringing danger to those who were mere humans. Batman grew determined to destroy Superman when one of Superman’s battles caused a collision into a building that killed others that Batman cared for. This was it! He was not going to sit back and let an alien vigilante go on any longer. Batman thought Superman had to be stopped. At the same time, Superman felt that Batman was out of control and he had a similar goal – to stop him. They were fighting against each other, not knowing that there was another real enemy behind the scenes.  (Spoiler alert) At one point in the movie, Batman comes really close to killing Superman. It was so disturbing for me, as a diehard Batman fan, to see anger and revenge consume this hero so much that the truth could not be seen by him. Batman and Superman were wearing each other out while the real danger was growing stronger and stronger by the minute. As the fight was getting crucial, I could not forget the face Batman and Superman had when it finally dawned on them that they had been the victim of a mutual adversary. Batman’s world had stopped as he realized that all of his efforts were futile, empty, and ineffective because Superman was actually trying to help not hurt him.

The Cost of Getting it Wrong

When we fight a fight against a false enemy, it can cause our world to be flipped upside down. Not only that, it set up defenses in the wrong place. Our focus is not locked on the right target and we become blind to the attack being set up by the true evil one. Sadly, when the real attack happens, it is more powerful and destructive because we weren’t prepared for it. We are too drained and powerless because we poured out all our strength on the wrong things and spent so much time fighting what wasn’t real.

There are many of us who fight emotional, mental, and even spiritual wars everyday. We have enough Jesus to get to heaven but not enough faith to walk in victory.  I remember doing the exact same thing when I was younger. After many attempts to gain my mother’s love and acceptance, I finally realized that I was not going to get it when I wanted it. So, I turned her into my enemy instead – I became Batman. For years after I received Christ, I prayed for her to give her heart to the Lord. My brother and I witnessed to her and prayed, but she wouldn’t accept Christ as her savior until months after my father had passed away.

You would think that I would have been happy after that, but all of a sudden I started to blame her for so many things. I blamed her for allowing my father to be so cruel to me and my brothers. I felt that she had turned a blind eye to the things that I had gone through. I know she saw the welts on my back from my father’s beatings, yet she did nothing. I resolved in my mind that my mother was never there for me when I needed it and my bitterness consumed me. Eventually I started thinking about how I had to go to church all by myself at the age of 6. Strangers loved me more than she did, I thought. I made up in my mind that she was my enemy and believed that, though I loved her, she never loved me back. I grew to detest her more because I felt that she failed me as a mother.

It was much later that she told me that the hardest season of her life, was not the sudden death of my father, but the pain I inflicted on her during my time of rebellion and bitterness. You would think that after me praying for her for so many years that her rededication to the Lord would have been exactly what I wanted. Instead, Satan used me against her. I spent so much time fighting my mother and others that when the enemy finally exposed himself, I was too spiritually weak to fight him off and I needed people to pray for me.

Darn It! That’s Wasn’t My Enemy?

Today I honestly say that the one who prayed for me the most was my own mother. It was her prayers that helped me through some of the hardest times of my young adult life. Even though I said some very hurtful things to her and treated her wrong, she turned around and got on her knees and prayed for me. I was humbled when I had to admit my jealousy, resentment and un-forgiveness.

Come on, be honest with me, I’m not alone here am I? Have you ever set your anger on the wrong foe? Are you demanding that flesh and blood pay you back for the pain showered on you? Have you allowed your rage for revenge to blind you from the truth? I wonder, how many of us have fought with a fellow victim, all the while ignoring the one true enemy at work.

Ephesians 6: 12 says, “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but a stronger enemy, rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world and spiritual evil in the heavenly realms.”

You and I need all the energy we muster to fight against our mutual foe. Some of us, however, are wasting time, energy and emotions on things and people which are robbing from us our peace and stability.

So, what are some things you can do to make sure you are really fighting the right enemy?
1. Look at who you it is you are fighting? Is it flesh and blood? If it is, are you wasting your time? Think it through, they may be used as puppets but they are not the root enemy.  Every human being is being used, never the mastermind.  So that means that even though that person is destroyed, your enemy can pop up somewhere else.
2. Remember that Satan is out to destroy everything God has designed you to be. He will not play fair and he will not come at you in a way that’s obvious. John 10:10 says,

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

3.  Draw closer to God.  Incorporate in your life habits that will help you draw closer to God in order for you to see and hear God better. James 4:7 says that we need to submit ourselves to God. That means we are going to lay down the authority we have over our lives and circumstances and place them in Gods care. Once we give God complete power over our lives we can then see with clearer lenses who our real enemy.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” – James 4:7-8

Weekly Challenge

Is there somethings that the enemy has stolen from you, destroy or killed and you have been fighting flesh and blood for. t? Take sometime to confess that to God.  Let him, in return, show you some areas that you need to submit to God.  We would love for you to share your thoughts and comments below (at your comfort level).

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