8 The goat became very powerful. But at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off. In the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the earth. 9 Then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel. 10 Its power reached to the heavens, where it attacked the heavenly army, throwing some of the heavenly beings and some of the stars to the ground and trampling them. 11 It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his Temple. 12 The army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion. So the daily sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown. The horn succeeded in everything it did. - Daniel 8:8-12, NLT
We sometimes forget that within the context of our daily life, there is a battle going on that we cannot see. There are powers and principalities that fight the armies of God. They are often unseen, yet manifest themselves in the lives of people, as well as systemic evil and injustice, affecting the masses and inflicting hurt and destruction on people.
Daniel got to see it visibly, through a vision and a conversation with Gabriel, one of the most powerful and important messengers of God. He would also experience it again as he was praying in chapter 9 and through an encounter with another angel who had come to answer his prayer, but was blocked by the prince of Persia in chapter 10.
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. - Ephesians 6:12, NLT
We must be aware and alert to the reality of the unseen. We must be aware that followers of Christ will be hurt. We are the target because we stand in the power of the almighty, empowered by the Sprit, and can, through prayer, obedience, and service inhibit the desired goal of the evil one: the destruction of the kingdom of God.
And yet we are not to be defensive. We are to be active in the battle. The battle is the Lord’s, but the armor he gives us is to be used as we partner with him to advance the kingdom of God. And yet we do not use violence or cause suffering to achieve victory. We us prayer, love, and obedience to God. It is the non-violent activities that win the war in God’s battle.
So we must not shy away from the battle, but run to it, finding ourselves partnering with God in rescuing other prisoners taken in the battle for the lives of others.