Part 1 of 3

Are you like me? I have good days and I have bad days. Some of my good days have been really outstanding! Unfortunately, so have some of my bad days. I’m using the word "days," but the truth is that some of those "days" were really "seasons." Why I can’t be more consistent in my faithfulness, I have no idea. It truly is frustrating! Just when I feel I have it all going in the right direction – WHAM! I get side-swiped. Really, I guess it’s more like side-tracked. I think Satan’s number one tactic is distraction. He certainly has used it on me a few times, and what’s worse is that I have cooperated with him! Off I go, totally absorbed in something that should have fallen by the wayside. The trouble with Satan’s detours is that they take you further than you intended to go, keep you longer than you intended to stay, and cause you to do things you never intended to do. That’s not original with me, I heard it preached somewhere, but it sure fits my situation. How about you? Have you ever taken a road trip with Satan?

The problem with these road trips is that often they have consequences that are long-lasting and leave deep hurts, not only in our own life, but also in the lives of those we love. And even when the effects are not so dramatic, the fact that we failed to uphold our promise of faithfulness to the Lord leaves us questioning the sincerity of our relationship with Him. Sure, we know He’s faithful, but we wonder how real our commitment is if we have been so easily persuaded away from our sincere and wholehearted devotion to Him. Suddenly, we have an area of weakness that Satan will not hesitate to use against us.

First Peter 5:8 tells us our "enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." And John 10:10 tells us his singular focus is to "steal, kill, and destroy." Because of his destructive nature, he is always looking for a way to crush us and push us to the point of despair. You see, if we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, Satan cannot come inside us (Ephesians 1:13-14). He cannot posses us or "make" us do anything. But boy, oh boy, can he ever oppress us!

One area where Satan particularly likes to go, when he’s oppressing us, is the area where we have proven to be weak in the past. He loves to remind us of past failures, weaknesses, or hurts. Using these tools he can easily give rise to fear and paralyze us, causing us to fall head-long into a season of strained relationship with God, with our fellow believers, and even with ourselves. Does this sound familiar? Even if you haven’t experienced a season like this yourself, you’ve probably observed the effects of it in the life of a fellow believer. God’s Word tells us that these battles are not uncommon at all. Immediately following his warning about Satan being like a roaring lion, Peter says, "Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering…," 1 Peter 5:9.

To be continued...

© Tammie 2005

Posted by Tammie at 9:45 PM