A. W. Tozer has given one of his books a great title, “This World: Playground or Battleground?“ It’s an insightful book, and Tozer spends page after page unpacking that one question he asks with the title. We’ve heard not to judge a book by its cover. I think this one judges me, waiting for my response to that question. What do I think the world is?
In my life, I’ve come to see it as a battleground. Now, seeing clients as a part of my counseling training, I come face-to-face yet again with the question. How do I see the lives of these folks that come to see me? How do they see it? More, how do I see what I am doing alongside them? What is counseling like?
It is a battleground.
It’s an amazing gift, this ability to step into someone’s journey and walk with them awhile. There are, of course, as many reasons for someone coming to counseling as there are people who do, but all of them have one common, central theme: battle. In a sense, what we think about our lives is not as important as what really is. Of course, a important goal is to begin to see things as they really are, to align our perception of things with reality. That’s a good definition of sanity, and a prerequisite to living well. But, bottom line, we live in the midst of a life-and-death struggle between powers infinitely stronger than we, and we truly are caught in the middle. In fact, we are the reason for it, and our lives are often the context in which this battle plays out.
Back to counseling. It is a grave mistake to believe that our only difficulties as people are depression or anxiety or relationship struggles. Yes, these are problems. Yes, we need relief from them. But we must see them in context of the battle we face every day of our lives, because we need healing. And to join someone even for a moment on their journey is to join in the battle with them. It is a great joy and honor to do so; it is also a weighty thing, an invitation fraught with peril if we are not well-prepared.
To prepare means a few things: First, that we recognize the battleground we are walking onto; Second, that we recognize the Warrior who is come to rescue us and with whom we fight alongside in this person’s life; Third, that we know the enemy we are facing, even if our brother or sister does not; Fourth, that we enter in the battle with armor well-fitted and well trained in the use of our weapons; And finally, that we walk closely shoulder-to-shoulder with others who are seasoned in battle.
We enter into the battleground as warriors. To do any less is a perilous venture.
