Fight or Flight?

It's easy to disengage with the world around us.

You know how it goes. Sleep until 12pm, put on a fake smile around loved ones & strangers, self medicate through sports or TV. We all have our defenses against pain and fear. It's fight or flight mode. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

 Some of us fight. Some of us fight tooth and nail until we have our way and see the outcome we hoped for in the first place. We put on the virtue of stubbornness and surround ourselves with people that tell us what our itching ears want to ear. We combat when instead we should take a step back.

I learned about fight or flight modes in freshman year Psychology at Malone University, where I attended college. It's the way we respond when the adrenaline gets going and we are faced with an unexpected predator.

A few weeks ago a gunman opened fire in a Las Vegas hotel that I was in. My response? Run for my life. Which was the common response shared by most everyone around me. It's completely understandable, after all I had no way of knowing at the time that his target was 1 woman and then himself. To make matters worse it was the same day as the shooting in Newtown, CT, which greatly heightened the situation.

In the back of my mind I thought, "This is it. He has gun and I dont. There is no reason he cant walk to where I'm huddled with other strangers and shoot me."

We are in the midst of a great spiritual battle all around us. It is fought everyday, and like it or not, we play a significant role. Consider this passage from Ephesians 6:10-12.

" Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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."

Everyday we wake up, we have a choice. Fight or flight. Engage or disengage. Instead of picking the wrong battles and fighting with everything we have for things that dont matter, or completely running away and hiding altogether, we must daily be attentive to the Holy Spirit and what he is doing in this world so that we may have the appropriate response to whatever we are up against.

God has done the work necessary on the cross. He has already made a way for our deliverance. We arent starting something new. He did it. Our job is to stand.


"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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."

(Ephesians 6:13-18 emphasis mine)

As I walked out of the hotel, I saw a man lying face down on the ground with a pool of blood around his head. I come to later find out that this is the gunman, and his gunshot wound is self inflicted. 2 people died that night.

Friends, there are people dying spiritual deaths all around us everyday, and I'm not making light of physical death, because there are a lot of people up against that too.

The point is, we can do something about it. We can engage with the world around us. We can stand firm in the battle we are in. We can fight for each other. We can fight for our own hearts.

Stand firm in Christ. When you have done everything else, continue to stand. God is our deliverer, refuge, strength, and an ever present help in trouble.