At the beginning of the year, I knew where I was going and what I was doing. I felt assured in the path I was on, and I was ready to see what God had in store for this year. I expected God to do a mighty work, and He did. I had found a new level of contentment. I had found my place.
And that’s when I felt the warning. Beware. The enemy is on the prowl. Put on your armor. The enemy is out for blood.
Have you ever had one of those almost mountain top experiences where you feel extraordinarily connected to God, but almost as soon as that moment passes, you get a flat tire, break a nail, are given extra work to do, have a sick kid, fight with your spouse/friend? You know what I’m talking about. That moment when you wonder what on earth just happened. Everything was great, but then the enemy attacked.
Our enemy is not the lost keys, your kids, our job, etc. Our enemy is not even the hurt, the pain, the heartache, the diagnosis, or the fear. Our enemy is in the those quiet little lies in those moments that say … Where is your God now? Doesn’t He care about you? Doesn’t He at least owe it to you to stop this from happening?
Our enemy is the FATHER OF LIES. He specializes in the perfect lies to get you to fall prey to his schemes. Not only is he a liar, but he also is here to “steal, kill, and destroy.” (Jn 10:10). He doesn’t come to just hurt, mess up, and irritate. He comes to STEAL. KILL. AND DESTROY.
I am guilty of taking the enemy too lightly. Assuming that he’s not worried about me and that I’ll be fine. That’s so far from the truth. He doesn’t want you or me to find contentment. He doesn’t want us to believe what God says. He doesn’t want us to experience true life. He doesn’t want us to trust God.
I didn’t even see it coming. I was in a great place, and I was making progress like never before. But in my moment of weakness, the enemy planted the smallest seed of fear, doubt, and confusion. The enemy speaks fear, but God says do not fear. The enemy speaks doubt, but God says put your hands in my scars. The enemy speaks confusion, but God says I am the way, the truth, and the life.
This is the first step. Know your enemy. Know that he is real. Know that he hates the plans God has for you. Know that you need to put on the armor (Eph 6). Satan has NO foothold in your life unless you allow him. Take his threats seriously and equip yourself with Scripture. He is ready to battle us, but the question is will we be ready?
Most importantly, know who your God is. Your powerful, faithful, good, mighty, holy God. The same God who has defeated Satan before will do it again. My prayer is that we all acknowledge the enemy gunning for our relationship with God and exercise our faith to embrace the promises God has for us right now and in the days to come.
♥︎Jenna
This blog post is a part of a series called Rediscovering God for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you want to know more about the Write31Days challenge, you can find out more at www.write31days.com.