What to do When Wounded in Battle
In this fight, one thing is sure—you will be wounded in battle and you will fall—and this will happen often. Temptations come in direct relationship to our increasing spiritual awareness. The enemy may succeed in landing many blows throughout the day and night, from minor agitations to major sinful mistakes that may be worthy of confession. Regardless, when we are struck down or when we fall, we must immediately get up, dust ourselves off, and move on. Never stay down. As the Russian mystic, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov († AD 1867) encouraged:
Do not fall into despondency on this account. By your firmness in the struggle show the tenacity of your purpose and the stability of your free will. When thrown down, get up. When duped and disarmed, re-arm yourself afresh. When defeated, again rush to the fight.
St. Ignatius goes on to say that moments of falling prey to our sin and weakness should be converted into opportunities. With hopefulness he states:
It is extremely good for you to see within yourself both your own fall and the fall of the whole of mankind. It is essential for you to recognize and study this fall in your own experience, in your heart and mind. It is essential for you to see the infirmity of your knowledge and intellect, and the weakness of your will.
This same encouragement is echoed by St. Gregory of Sinai († AD 1346) in The Philokalia:
Should temptation arise, its purpose is to test you and to spur you on; and the God Who has permitted this testing, will speedily come to your help in whatever way he sees fit.
No matter how many times we fall or stumble we must battle with any thoughts or feelings of discouragement. Discouragement leads to hopelessness, which leads to despair, which leads to giving up, and we must never give up. The great Eastern mystic and teacher, St. Isaac the Syrian († AD 700) said:
Do not fall into despair because of stumbling. I do not mean that you should not feel contrition for them, but that you should not think them incurable. For it is more expedient to be bruised than dead. There is, indeed, a Healer for the man who has stumbled, even He Who on the Cross asked that mercy be shown to His crucifiers, He Who pardoned His murderers while He hung on the Cross. ‘All manner of sin,’ He said, ‘and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men,’ that is, through repentance.
And finally, there are the encouraging words of St. John Climacus, who reminds us that our guardian angels are fighting with us:
Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly, the angel who guards you will honor your patience.
The devil always attempts to discourage us, which is his great weapon against the believer who has placed their trust in God. However, if we repent, we will foil his cunning, no matter how great our transgression. The Russian spiritual teacher, St. Theophan the Recluse said:
Be strong. The enemy fights you. But this does not mean that you are sinful. Nor should his attacks shake you or confuse you…. Not only are you not responsible for it, but provided you struggle you will profit from it. Each time you repulse an attack of the enemy you secure a victory and you gratify God. It is not possible to avoid the annoying attacks of the enemy. Our life is formed in such a way. But this does not lead to the loss of the fighter, but rather to his salvation.
St. Isaac the Syrian encourages us to keep swinging even when we fall to the ground with seeming fatal wounds. Even if we feel defeated we must keep fighting. He says of the fighter: