Fight or Flight

Anneta Pinto-Young 2 Minutes
“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” (Psalms 144:1).

There is a psychological concept related to fight or flight, which describes an innate instinct within animals and humans, when faced with a perceived threat. Built within each of us, is a natural desire to fight to protect ourselves, or to run from a perceived threat. One of my favourite characters in the bible is David. As we follow his journey, we see how God first taught David how to kill a bear and lion which came to threaten his sheep. These challenges were used to prepare David for confronting, challenging and taking down Goliath who threatened the people of God (1 Samuel 17).

There were other seasons in the bible, where David spent running from Saul, who wanted to take his life. David’s conviction was, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm” (Psalms 105:15). This was because David knew that Saul was anointed of God. Saul eventually came to his own demise, when he fell on his sword during his battle with the Philistines (1 Samuel 31:4). Saul was so consumed by his pursuit of David, that he missed the fact that the Philistines were planning their attack against him. Except for Saul who was anointed and whom David needed to leave to God to avenge, David did not run away from many battles. He stood and fought once he had consulted God and was convinced that God was with him in battle. David said in Psalms, “He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze” (Psalms 18:34).

There are seasons when God will tell us to walk away and other times, when He wants us to take a stand of authority and declare victory over our circumstances. Our weapons are not physical and we do not fight in our own strength. Our weapons are strategic prayers and worship. When God commands us to fight, we have to remember that there is nothing for us to fear, but we have to be strong and courageous because God is with us in the battle (Joshua 1:9).

God will teach us the strategies of war and train us in warfare against the enemy. We have to do battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness of this present world (Ephesians 6:12). We need insight and wisdom for the battle and understanding as the Holy Spirit guides and teaches us in warfare. “For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm‬ ‭18:29‬).

A.P.-Y.

Published by Anneta Pinto-Young

I am a trained Social Worker who currently provides professional leadership on a programme to support Social Work students and Newly Qualified Social Workers entering the Social Work Profession. Born and raised in Jamaica in a Christian family where my father is an ordained Pastor and Deacon who has served for over 50 years in the ministry. My father is also a trained musician and our family can be described as a musical family. I grew up in a small farming community in St. Peter’s, St. Andrew and my parents also have a small farm. I credit my gift of writing to my father who I watched and listened to over the years as he wrote sermons, poems and other recitals in his capacity in ministry. English has always been an easy subject for me and over the years I have developed an increased interest in writing. I am a Trainer, I sing and have a passion for worship, the spoken word and the free flow of the prophetic anointing. I am married to my best friend Andrew Christopher Young who is an advanced Musician and whose music you can find on YouTube and Facebook. I am a trained Coach and Mentor and I love experimenting with food so I love cooking. I enjoy trying cultural dishes from across the world and I view food as an entry into cultures and languages.

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11 thoughts on “Fight or Flight”

  1. I like what you said here. There are times when we have to stand and fight and times when we leave it to God and the discernment to know the difference is in inquiring of what God wants us to do in that particular situation.

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  2. Sis, this is concept of knowing when to fight or flee is a great observation.
    I think that many times we get caught up in struggles that we have no business in.
    Knowing that even David asked the Lord, “do I go”, should give us the clue that not everything needs my interaction except to pray for God’s will, he is already there in the conflict, mine or not mine.

    Also, as I read your opening text, I saw that our conflict is not physical before it is spiritual. I believe that the conflict is a physical manifestation of what is already happening in the spiritual.
    So God teaches us to war in this as well.

    God bless you

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    1. Bless you indeed. We have worn ourselves out so many times with petty irritations and things sent by the devil to cause distractions. Some situations don’t even deserve our time while others require intercession and prayer. Sometimes God will also require that we take action. It is the listening and discerning the seasons, times and what needs to be done that will guarantee our success. Bless you and thanks for stopping by. 🙏🏾

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      1. Anneta, David is my fav also! He spent so much time alone with God, whether he was in the fields with the sheep, or hiding from Saul in the wilderness, or in some cave. When you look at it…God was David’s only true friend, his confidant, and his greatest fan. If only we could lean on the Lord like David, asking him whether to stay or go…fight or rest in Him!!
        This tells me that we need more alone time with God!! 🙏🏾

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  3. Great word Anneta .
    One thing I am learning from this devotional is that David knew how to pick his battles .
    Sometimes its good to run or retreat .
    Killing Saul was going to cause him to have accusations before God.
    And acquire inequities for touching the anointed one..

    Liked by 1 person

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