“Finally, be strong in
the Lord and in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take
your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms.”
Ephesians 6:10-12
(NIV)
A few years ago, a friend of mine
spent several weeks in Africa visiting some of the most remote villages; places
that have only begun to hear the Gospel.
His stories were filled with examples of how Satan’s grip
on the people of that land was apparent… not because of the depravity that he
witnessed, but because he saw, first hand, Satan’s power and how he uses
it. Satan is very much alive and these
stories proved it. A few days later, my
daughter asked a very interesting question: Why doesn’t Satan do those things
here? My first response was to say that
just because we haven’t personally witnessed such atrocities doesn’t mean they
don’t occur. But, after contemplating it a little further, the unsettling truth burdened my heart: Satan doesn’t wield that kind of power in our
society because he doesn’t have to… and why waste that energy when he can so
easily achieve his goal by much simpler means.
Satan is subtle and we know from
Scripture that he’s the father of lies (John 8:44). His arsenal is massive and
his deceits are endless. He distracts us
with technology. We waste our time using
it. We waste our money buying it. We see the fabric of our families
deteriorating because of it. Our time
together is no longer punctuated with meaningful conversations, time spent
sharing life. Instead, we see example
after example of people sitting together… each lost in their own gadget. We watch television shows and read magazines
that glorify the depravity of man; that set up a false idea of beauty and worth
for our children. We read books that
demoralize women and promote unhealthy relationships. We find every way possible to escape from our
reality… but the problem is that our escapes are leading to the destruction of
our society. Satan wants our eyes off Jesus… and he’s getting his heart’s
desire without very much effort at all.
I’ve come to believe there’s
another reason for Satan’s subtlety in our society. He knows that any blatant display of his
power would drive every last one of us into our churches, into our Bibles. And this is the last thing he wants. If you really think about it, he has us
exactly where he wants us. Many of us go to church. We even serve our
churches and communities. We also pray and read our Bibles. But, we also watch, and engage in, countless hours of things
that pollute our minds and cloud our judgment.
We spend way too much time “friending” at the expense of damaging, and
even losing, true relationships. We fill
our minds with fantasy stories that lead us down a mental and spiritual path
that is neither healthy, nor glorifying to our Creator. Because we do the
former, we forget how damning the latter is.
Satan is subtle and his subtlety will lead to our destruction..
Challenge
Do you find yourself involved in
one of Satan’s subtle distractions? If so, spend time asking God for His
help. Sometimes we try to do things on
our own, relying on the false security of will power… forgetting the strength
of Satan. But, God can always overcome.
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