day no. 14,985: defend when inadequate, attack when abudant

“Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack. One defends when his strength is inadequate; he attacks when it is abundant.” —Sun Tzu

If you are an immovable object, you can retain and hold on to whatever you hold precious, but you cannot stop the assaults from coming. You can rest knowing that they can't get through, but you cannot find any rest from their banging about at your walls.

Victory is only possible by leaving the security and invincibility of the walls and attacking the enemy at its source.

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." -- Sun Tzu

The time for getting strong is when the enemy isn't at your door. During that time, you can heal from former battles, bulk up for future ones and prepare and plan for the next altercation. This isn't just passively waiting for the next time the enemy knocks at your door but actively going out and attacking them by busting through theirs.

I talked with my friend, Josiah, more about this last night (10/15/19) after Connection Group and developed this idea a bit more.

"Don't let the enemy win" is an inadequate battle plan. It is certainly part of the plan, but it cannot be the entire plan. The plan must be "win the battle." If the strategy is merely don't let the bad guys destroy everything we hold dear, our vision is not up to the task.You need a bigger vision to survive, a grander aim in order to succeed. 

Think of it in terms of a football game.

"Don't let the other team into our end zone," is an inadequate game plan. The goal is "win the game," not just "don't give up too many points." Part of the plan to win the game must involve limiting the number of points you allow the enemy to score, but it must also involve advancing your team's cause toward the goal of scoring points in the enemy's end zone in order to have more points than them when all is said and done.

If we are fighting from a place of defense, we are reacting to our enemy and allowing them to set the agenda. If we lose, they win. If we win, we merely keep what we have. However, if we go out and attack, we take the risk of losing out there, but the failure is one of not expanding our kingdom beyond our walls as far as we would have liked. Whereas if we fail on the defensive, we lose everything we have. Attacking requires a vision of where we want to go and setting the agenda of what we intend to accomplish and impose on the world around us. Merely playing defense is resisting the enemy's vision for your life.

While God may have plans to prosper you and not to harm you, our enemy has plans for us as well: to hurt and harm us, to shrink us and shame us. Our strategy cannot merely be to fend off the devil and his wiles, but to run toward God, embrace His purpose for our lives and do damage to the darkness along the way.