Two Enemies Every Man Faces

There are two enemies that all men face.

One follows him for his entire lifetime, the endless pursuer for all to see. The other looms ahead, in the shadows of the unknown, waiting to attack. The first can never be outrun, the second can never be caught.

Who are they?

The past and the present.

For many their past looms over them. They can’t seem to escape the misdeeds of times gone by. Others are controlled by their fear of the future. What could go wrong, what horrors lurk ahead?

These enemies see too much to overcome.

Consider however the line Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “ What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us”.

Paul would have agreed. In Philippians 3:13-14, he wrote, “ Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.

Paul had a past. He didn’t let it define him. Paul's future was uncertain. He didn’t worry. As he said later “in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12-13).

Where you have been and what happens next are small matter if Christ is in us. He can fix the past and knows the future. If we are in Him and He is in us, those enemies don’t stand much of a chance.

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