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Like most good stories, this one begins in the woods.  

It was many years ago, on a blustery fall day—the perfect kind of autumn afternoon when the last leaves rattle in the barren trees and the wind chases tattered clouds across the sky.  My parents and I were enjoying a leisurely exploration of the forest behind our creek when the afternoon’s tranquility was shattered by a shocking discovery:  a patch of ground that had been completely destroyed.  The grass was stomped into nothingness, and the earth was trampled into a putrid, muddy sinkhole.  I was only nine years old at the time, but I knew what this meant:  wild hogs had moved in.    

Wild hogs were about the last creature we wanted to take refuge on our property.  They are a non-native nuisance species in this country; initially introduced to America for sporting purposes by Spanish explorers in the 1500s, they quickly spread out of control thanks to their legendary reproduction rate (an old joke claims that “if a feral-hog sow produces a dozen piglets, thirteen survive”).  Today, there are over five million wild hogs rampaging through the United States, 200,000 of which dwell right here in Arkansas.  

Not only are hogs invasive, they’re destructive, a formidable threat to the natural ecosystems on which they intrude.  Their incessant rooting habits pulverize the soil and vegetation; they’ve even been known to damage crop fields and roads.  In addition, they “hog” (pun intended!) the resources of an area, forcing native species to compete.  Furthermore, they carry an unnerving variety of parasites, diseases, and bacteria that are harmful not only to animals but also to humans.  Perhaps most worrisome of all, they are quite savage.  They can run at speeds of thirty miles an hour, weigh up to 220 pounds each, and leap six-foot-high fences.  This athletic prowess combined with their surly temperaments renders them a hazard to other animals, livestock, and people.  

Considering all of these facts, you can imagine why we were far from thrilled to find evidence that the hogs had taken up residence in our woods.  And as the weeks wore on, our not-so-welcome visitors showed no inclination to depart.  They rooted along our creek, disturbing its banks and gouging the land.  They harassed our wildlife and usurped meadows that had formerly been frequented by deer.  They even curtailed our woodland walks, because we couldn’t risk encountering the band of these belligerent animals.   

We resolved to evict our unwelcome guests as soon as possible, but we were uncertain about how to do so.  Searching for a plan, we learned that wildlife management officials have experimented with a variety of hog-busting tactics over the years, but the most successful one has been trapping the hogs and releasing them in controlled environments such as farms.  After some research, we were able to contact a local man who owned one of these hog farms, and he agreed to remove the hogs for us.  However, he stipulated that we had to trap them ourselves, a feat which proved to be impossible simply because the hogs were so elusive.  Days might pass with no sign of their presence, but just when we hoped they had possibly vanished, we would stumble upon those telltale stretches of decimated earth.  

And then, one day, the story took a dramatic turn.

My mom and I were standing in our dining room on this particular day when we were suddenly startled by a shadow of movement at the margin of our woods.  To our astonishment, the “shadow” materialized into the entire tribe of wild hogs, casually trotting out of the forest—into our backyard!  Eyes bright with curiosity, they wandered around our house, and after nosing through our landscaping and investigating our back patio, they discovered our birdfeeders and began happily gobbling the seeds on the ground underneath.  

During this interval, my mother and I had been unable to do much more than simply stare out the windows in shock.  But watching the hogs greedily feast on our birdseed, my mother abruptly declared that she was completely exasperated with this whole situation.  It was bad enough that the hogs were cavorting through our woods.  But she could not believe that they had now found the gall to brazenly maraud on our very doorstep and pillage our birdfeeders.  She announced that something had to be done about the hogs once and for all, but in any case, they were not remaining in our backyard a moment longer.

With this proclamation, she was out the door, her parting words a caution to me to remain inside.  I had no option but to watch helplessly from the window.  In just a few seconds, I saw my mother sprinting across the backyard, straight toward the pack of hogs.  She was whooping wildly and brandishing some long, threatening-looking object above her head.  One glance from their beady eyes, and the entire band of hogs seemed to be convinced she meant business.  The normally aggressive animals scurried down the hillside, stubby legs scrambling for refuge beyond the borders of our property.  Exulting in her victory, my mother returned to the house and displayed her “weapon.”

It was a bundle of three dried-out ears of Indian corn!

The corn had been displayed in our house as a fall decoration, but when it began to fade, it was relegated to the garage countertop, where it awaited disposal.  My mother explained this unlikely weapon choice as mere impulse; she was passing through the garage on her way to confront the hogs and just snatched the first item she saw.  Evidently the hogs found it impressive, and until my dying day, I will never forget the sight of my mother valiantly defending our home from wayward hogs—with three ears of Indian corn!

Within just a few days from this episode, we were able to trap the hogs in our barn (another exciting story for another day), and the farmer we had contacted earlier transported them to his property.  The hog invasion was ended, and we’ve had no more porcine visitors since then.  

But over the years, I’ve come to realize that while I might not have wild hogs roaming through my yard, I still face invaders in my life every single day.  They don’t mangle the ground, but they trample my hopes.  They don’t prevent me from hiking, but they can forbid me from dreaming.  They’re not a threat to my birdseed, but they’re a threat to my soul.  These invaders are the forces of darkness—Satan and his minions.  As destructive and unwanted as wild hogs are, these enemies are far more deadly.  And just as we could not hold open house for the hogs on our property, we can’t allow these spiritual intruders to remain in our lives.  

We shouldn’t be surprised that we face invasions, because the Christian life is and always has been a call to warfare.  Jesus Himself bluntly said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34 ESV).  God doesn’t summon us to a life of passivity.  To be clear, salvation itself does not demand a struggle; Jesus has already conquered evil and won our eternal freedom once and for all!  However, appropriating that salvation—walking in it day by day, refusing to settle for less than our divine birthright—does require us to put on our armor, because Satan and his legions are determined to resist our attempts to live for God.  And in this battle with eternal consequences, our warfare must be carefully executed on heavenly principles.

First of all, we fight for what God has given us.  When I think back to that day with the hogs, I remember that my mom wasn’t about to let those invaders ruin our land or threaten our animals.  She could have settled for the safest option, cowering in fear inside our house and letting the hogs roam unopposed.  But instead, she went on the offensive against them.  Why?  Because she understood that our land and our family was something God had called her to protect.

I’m reminded of a Biblical hero named Shammah, a member of King David’s renowned mighty men—an elite corps of soldiers with valiant hearts and incredible military ability.  You’ll find Shammah’s brief but powerful story tucked away in 2 Samuel 23, the “hall of fame” of these fearless men.  “And next…was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines.  But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory” (v. 11-12 ESV).  There’s nothing in this verse that would lead us to believe that this particular patch of ground was anything remarkable; it sounds like nothing more than a common garden.  So why did Shammah risk his life to defend this spot?  

The answer lies in these words:  “he took his stand.”  You see, we all have times in our lives when it’s tempting to yield ground.  Maybe your life seems too ordinary, or your marriage is too far gone, or your career can’t be salvaged.  In those moments, our human inclination is to count our losses and walk away.  But imagine what would happen if we drew the line in the sand with Shammah’s courage and said, “This doesn’t seem like much, but it’s what the Lord has asked me to defend.  The enemy can come no further.”

Once we’ve decided to defend the territory God has given us, what do we use for weapons?  Too often, we lament that we can’t repel the invaders because we don’t have what we need to do so.  We reason that if we had more money, better health, a more devoted spouse, or a different set of genes, then we could take our stand valiantly.  But this is far from the truth—because your weapons are closer than you think.  Just look at 2 Peter 1:3:  “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (NLT).  God has given us whatever we require for the battle.  We just don’t always recognize it!  

Dried-up ears of Indian corn didn’t seem like the best choice of weapon for my mom.  But it was all she had on hand, so she decided to wield it fearlessly—and it worked!  As it turns out, God loves to use humble means to accomplish amazing feats.  Shamgar, a Hebrew judge, “saved Israel” by slaying 600 Philistines with a simple ox goad (Judges 3:31 ESV).  Facing defeat and arrest at the hands of God’s enemies, Samson grabbed the abandoned jawbone of a donkey and with it killed 1000 soldiers (Judges 15)!  Even Moses overcame the might of Egypt not with swords or spears but with a shepherd’s staff through which God did wonders (Exodus 3).  I’m reminded of the wise admonishment of Pastor Francis Anfuso:  “What you need is hidden in what you have.”

But God doesn’t only delineate our territory and endow us with our weapons.  He blesses us with something even more priceless:  Himself.  In this weary war, we aren’t fighting alone.  Because “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 3:10 ESV), the fight is in the spiritual realms, and it is God Who puts the strength in our souls to stand firm.  Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 that “though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (ESV).  

Divine power.  You see, the fighting isn’t up to us.  We can be confused, outnumbered, or terrified—and that’s ok.  Nowhere are we commanded to fight in our own strength.  We’re instead assured that “the Lord your God is the one fighting for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22 NASB).  And God does this in incredibly contradictory ways that fly in the face of all the world’s standards:

When we are weak, we are strong in His strength.  (2 Corinthians 12:10)

When we are outnumbered, there are still more on our side.  (2 Kings 6:16)

When we seem to be defeated, we will rise again.  (Micah 7:8)

When we are most afraid, we can find rest in His love.  (1 John 4:18)

And that’s the secret of the battle.  You see, most of us can’t claim to have pursued wild animals with Indian corn.  In fact, my mom may be alone in the ability to reminisce about a memory like that!  However, regardless of where we live, or what we do, or who we are, we can’t escape invasions in our lives.  And in our times of warfare, we are faced with some crucial decisions.  First, we determine not to relinquish what God has given us.  Next, we fight with the weapons He has provided, even if they seem insufficient to us.  And lastly, we yield to His authority over the battle.  We need not fear the war—because when all is said and done, we watch Him provide the victory.  

Did you enjoy this post? What are the tactics you’ve found most helpful for fighting spiritual battles? Let me know in the comments! By the way, all the photos in this blog are family photos of the hogs on our property–taken with an actual camera. (Yes, kids, there was a time when phones didn’t do EVERYTHING!)

Also, for more information about hogs, check out the articles from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Only in Arkansas.

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