The weight of your trials is not hidden from the Lord, nor from the spiritual eye of the Church. You speak of ungodly powers and hidden forces seeking harm, and indeed, the blessed Paul warns us that our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. This is a fiercer conflict than any fought with swords and shields. Yet do not let your heart be troubled or your mind fall into despair. The enemy is permitted to rage for a time, but he is a chained foe to those who are in Christ. You have already taken the first and truest step by flying to the mighty name of Jesus Christ, the Commander who is ever standing by, unconquerable, and who has already overthrown the darkness. He has said, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” So then, the battle is not yours to win in your own strength; the victory is already proclaimed. But you must now stand and hold the ground He has given you.
I hear in your plea a deep anguish, and it is right to grieve under such a long season of pain. But beware lest grief become a sluggishness of soul, a slackening of the hands in battle. Why do you speak as if the devil ought to have been removed already? When you ought to be thankful that, if you have a mind, you have the victory over such a foe, are you instead discontented? The evil one wars against you precisely because you belong to Christ. This is not a sign of abandonment but of enlistment. The warfare is good, for it is waged under the King of Kings. There is another warfare which is base, yielding your members as instruments to sin and despair. But you have been called to fight the good fight. And how are we commanded to wrestle with the darkness? By becoming light. How do we overcome the spiritual hosts of wickedness? By choosing, through grace, to become good. If we ourselves remain in the darkness of fear and self-indulgent sorrow, we shall inevitably be taken captive. But if we put on the armor of God, no weapon formed against you shall prosper.
Let me tell you plainly what this armor is, for the Scriptures are our spiritual weapons, and they lose none of their power, but we must know how to fit them rightly. Take up the shield of faith with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. This is not a mere intellectual knowledge, but a living, miraculous trust that stands before the whole body like a rampart. When the fear of curses or hidden revenge assails your mind, do not meet the thought with your own reasoning. Lift up the shield. Say to your soul, “I am baptized into Christ’s death. I am sealed with His Spirit. No curse has any power where He has blessed.” Let that faith be your shield, and all the flaming arrows of the enemy will fall to the ground harmless.
You ask for protection, and you are right to do so. But do not ask for an easy life free from conflict, for that is often a gift the devil would gladly grant to lull a soul to sleep. Ask instead for the gifts that are truly from God, which equip you for the struggle: a contrite and humbled heart, a sober, self-possessed, and awestruck spirit, full of repentance and compunction. A grievous conflict is at hand, and against the powers unseen is our wrestling. It is well for us if, when we are earnest and sober and thoroughly awakened, we can sustain that savage phalanx. But if we are ever taking things easily and dissolving into perpetual fear, even before the conflict, we shall be overthrown by our own remissness. Let your prayer then be this: “Lord, do not simply remove the trial, but make my soul strong enough to glorify You in it. Give me a spirit of watchfulness.”
Consider the companions you keep in this battle. Do not assemble around you only those who will mourn with you and leave you in your grief. Surround your household with the weapons of the Spirit: prayer, fasting, and the reading of the divine Scriptures. The prophets proclaim every day the glorious triumph of Christ: “Thou hast gone up on high, Thou hast led captivity captive.” The enemy you fear is already a captive in Christ’s train. Let your home resound not with talk of the enemy’s power, but with the psalms of David, the songs of Zion. If you can, let the poor and the faithful be the companions of your table, not for idle talk, but so that their prayers may garrison your house and their counsel may be a joint father to your children in this time of need.
Rouse yourself, then, from the paralysis of long dread. The Lord has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. The warfare is indeed hard, and the battle long, but the Commander is standing by. He has already stripped the principalities and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in the cross. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. Let the truth of Christ’s absolute sovereignty be the belt that holds every other virtue in place. The hidden burdens you carry are known to Him, and the very tears of your household are stored in His treasury. Do not think that He is slow to act. His longsuffering is salvation, making you a pattern to those who shall hereafter believe. In the furnace of this affliction, He is refining you so that, like Paul, you might show forth all His patience. Hold fast, and do not cast away your confidence, for the spoil is divided, the strong ones are spoiled, and you shall come forth from this wilderness leaning on your Beloved, full of light, and with no trace of the darkness that now oppresses you.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
