If you have lived very long as a believer in Christ, you are likely aware that there are times that we face trials and tribulations. As we get closer and closer to the return of our Lord, the enemy assaults seem to be intensifying. There is much at stake. Do you currently feel like your spiritual enemy is trying to terminate you? If you would answer “YES” to that question, I want to ask you to take some time to consider the motive behind the attack.

To make my point, I want us to think about the world of entertainment, where we see plots and themes play out before our eyes in movies and TV shows, which are not always realistic, but they are entertaining.  One of those topics is time travel.  I remember years ago watching Michael J Fox play a character in the movies “Back to the Future”.  In this movie, he travels back in time to when his parents met.

There was another movie franchise, which also used time travel in its theme, called “The Terminator”.  I didn’t actually watch these movies, but I did see some of the episodes when they made a TV show out of it and I know the basic story line.

I looked up the contents of the movie on Wikipedia so I could have the details correct.  In this analogy, I want you to consider the young girl’s character, Sarah Conner.  In the first movie, which was released in 1984, she is a young single girl just living her life, when suddenly that reality is interrupted because a seemingly unstoppable cyborg assassin comes back from the year 2029, and is programmed to kill Sarah.  He is called the Terminator, and while he is a powerful machine, he appears to be human.

The reason Sarah is a target is because the child she will eventually give birth to is very important.  In the future, there is an artificial intelligence defense network called Skynet who initiates a nuclear holocaust.  Sarah’s future son John is so important, because he is the one who leads the human group called the Resistance, who will eventually stop Skynet and its army of machines.

In the first of the five movies in this franchise, The Resistance sent back through time travel one of its best soldiers to help protect Sarah, which he does, but he loses his own life in the process. ¹

In the second movie in the series, John, Sarah’s son is 10 years old.  A second terminator, which is even more advanced and powerful than the original, was sent back from the future to try to kill Sarah’s son John.  A version of the original Terminator cyborg was reprogramed and sent back to protect Sarah and her son since the original human soldier was killed. ²

Without going into any more detail let me just say there are five movies in the franchise that show relentless efforts to destroy Sarah and her son John.  Why?  Because these creatures come from the future and in the future, there is a clear understanding of how important these individuals are.

It wasn’t Sarah that saved the world; it was her son. Her son would never have existed without Sarah!  He would never have existed had she not fought relentless battles to stay alive and then keep her son alive.

Are you connecting any dots as you think about how this situation may be playing out in your real spiritual life today? Our enemy has a way of knowing about our destiny and our assignments. He has one goal and that is to kill, steal, and destroy both you and your purpose! You see the more important your assignments are to the Kingdom of God, the more relentless the enemy will try to terminate you. You might say it this way.

The greater the assignment, the greater the battle!

The Lord recently spoke to me that the relentless attack being staged against you, your health, your mind, and your Spirit is an attempt to distract you from what He has for you. He said that the enemy of Christ and His Kingdom has targeted you as Jesus’ very own child, in order to discourage you and cause weariness and dread.

I loved the encouraging words the Lord shared with me about this. He said to lift up your head above the troubling and the chaotic thoughts. To understand that you are in a fight worth fighting! You are in a battle intended to end in victory! The greatest battle is about the greatest reward. It is about Jesus Christ’s end-time plan and end-time harvest!

There isn’t much time left before the Lord’s return, so we must not get weary in well doing, but press into Him and His presence. We must allow Him to equip and empower us for the work at hand. 

When you feel as if your spiritual enemy is trying to terminate you, always remember that the Lord has placed His angels around you to support you, protect you, and to work with you. Those who are with you are greater than those against you!

If you have been feeling under assault, I hope these thoughts will give you the fortitude to stand up and fight another day. Just ask yourself, what is in your future that your spiritual enemy wants to terminate? This will give you the tenacity to battle through and find out!

1. The Terminator. 2023, in Wikipedia.  Retrieved December 2, 2023 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator
2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 2023 in Wikipedia. Retrieved December 2, 2023 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_2:_Judgment_Day