IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO OUTTHINK YOUR ENEMY THAN TO OUTFIGHT HIM

IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO OUTTHINK YOUR ENEMY THAN TO OUTFIGHT HIM

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 7:19

Topic: It Is More Important to Outthink Your Enemy than to Outfight Him

"Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city."

Ecclesiastes 7:19

"There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and HE BY HIS WISDOM DELIVERED THE CITY; yet no man remembered that same poor man. Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard."

Ecclesiastes 9:14-16

It is obvious that the poor wise man was able to outthink his enemy rather than outfight him.  When you are surrounded and when you have little strength, you must start thinking. Brute force and old methods may not work anymore.  It is better to outthink your enemy than to outfight him.  

If you want to defeat your enemy, learn to outthink him.  Think about the problem, seek advice, and seek counsel from others.  "Every purpose is established by counsel:  and with good advice make war” (Proverbs 20:18).  You can listen to the advice and words of more experienced people.  You can even seek counsel and good advice through books, CDs and videos.  Your knowledge and understanding of history will be one of the greatest sources of counsel.   

It is more important to outthink your enemy than to outfight him.  Many of us do not pause to think much about anything.  We are always on the move and have no time to think deeply about our problems and our battles. 

   

We, as human beings have been able to overcome and defeat wild animals that are bigger and stronger than us.  How is that possible?  How do we overcome lions?  How do we catch them?  How do we subdue them?  How do we imprison them?  The answer is simple:  we outthink them!  Animals are very predictable.  They do the same things all the times.  That is why we can catch them.  Human beings are superior in their thinking, understanding and planning.  We can therefore catch elephants, lions, tigers, snakes and any animal we want to.  

      

When people are in prison, there is not much human interaction so they get to think a lot.  This is why many people turn to God when they are in prison!  You must create a prison for yourself so you can think your way out of your problems. You can think your way into wisdom, knowledge and revelation of God.  That is why Jesus went on retreats.

When you start to think, you will start to win the battles of life.  

The Fabian Strategy

Hannibal was a great African commander hailing from Carthage.  Carthage is modern-day Tunisia.  Hannibal threatened and defeated the Roman Empire on several historic occasions. 

Hannibal advanced all over Italy and threatened to attack Rome itself.  This was the worst threat ever on the Roman Empire.  The Roman generals struggled to contain this threat on their empire.  Different Roman generals were appointed at different times to defeat Hannibal.  After Hannibal had soundly defeated the Romans in famous battles at the Trebia River and the Lake Trasimene, a new Roman general called Quintus Fabius Maximus was appointed to fight Hannibal.  It is at this point that Quintus Fabius Maximus instituted his famous “Fabian” strategy of avoiding major confrontations with Hannibal.  He felt that it was better to outthink Hannibal than to outfight him, and he was right.  

The Fabian strategy was to avoid large battles in favour of minor harassing actions so as to break the enemy’s will to keep fighting and to wear them out slowly.  Fabius’ troops shadowed and harassed the Cathaginian army while avoiding a major confrontation.  Fabius also adopted a “scorched earth policy” that meant that he destroyed anything that was useful to the enemy such as food sources, farms and even people.  The “scorched earth policy” was intended to starve Hannibal’s troops and make life unbearable for them.  Gradually, Fabius was able to achieve the desired result, keeping Hannibal in check. 

You must consider the hidden cost of war.  Every war will cost you time, money and human lives.  In addition, every war creates bitter enemies who are bent on revenge in the future.  Fight deadly enemies by strategic avoidance!  That is the Fabian strategy.  It is better to outthink your enemy than to outfight him!

Avoid the conflict, avoid the war and avoid the issues and the arguments you cannot win. 

Excerpt from:

A Good General

Bishop Dag Heward-Mills