Tricks of the Enemy
We have an enemy. He is a liar, deceiver, and is out to steal, kill, and destroy. To accomplish his mission, he tricks us into believing one of two extremes about him.
We can make too much of him or too little of him.
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” (C.S. Lewis)
Both of these views will leave us susceptible to his attack.
If we want to experience abundant life in Christ, it is important for us to know the truth about our enemy and the tricks he uses to deceive.
MAKING TOO LITTLE OF THE ENEMY
The first trick Satan uses is to deceive us into thinking too little of him. He works to keep us so distracted by the things going on in our lives that we never think about him working behind the scenes to steal, kill, and destroy.
If he can keep us from knowing that he exists or from recognizing his activity in our lives, then we’ll be susceptible to defeat. We’ll miss out on experiencing the abundant life we have in our union with Christ.
When Satan preoccupies our attention on the things of this world, we will look for worldly solutions to our problems. We’ll run to the internet, google, YouTube, or ai to fix the things going on in our lives.
Our enemy does not want us turning to Jesus. He knows that life is found in Him and that He is always the answer to whatever we are going through. That’s why he works so hard to keep us from recognizing his activity and keeping us so focused on the things of this world, thinking too little about him.
MAKING TOO MUCH OF THE ENEMY
The opposite trick of the enemy is to lead us to make too much of him. Once we become aware that Satan is working behind the scenes in the invisible realm to steal, kill, and destroy, he wants us to become preoccupied with him.
If he can lead us in this direction, he knows that we’ll live in fear. We will worry about his presence and look for him around every corner and behind every rock. This can cripple our lives.
“Once we begin thinking of all the deceptions the enemy is about with regard to our lives, we have a tendency to become obsessed with him, fearful of what he's going to do next. Once we take him seriously, he switches from his tactic of “I'm not here” to one of having us worry about him day and night, which is almost a form of worship.”
(Brent Curtis & John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance)
When this happens, instead of being preoccupied on Jesus and His abundant life, we’ll be focused on our enemy and miss out on all the blessings we have in Christ.
THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR ENEMY
The truth about Satan is that we should not make too little or too much about him and his activity in our lives.
Satan is real, and we need a healthy awareness of him and the way he works to rob us of our abundant life in Christ. When we begin to recognize his activity and that he is behind much of our fear, worry, and anxiety then we can fight that battle spiritually instead of turning to the world.
However, we must not allow our enemy to take us from one extreme to the other and live our lives in constant fear of his presence and activity in our lives. Jesus is our Victor. He has taken sin and death to the cross and overcome it through His resurrection! We have victory in Christ.
Satan cannot snatch you out of Jesus’ hands. You are a holy, righteous, completely forgiven, saint who is a beloved child of God in Christ. You have value. You have purpose.
Your enemy has no real power over you. He can lie to you. He can deceive you. He can deflect your attention away from Jesus. However, the moment you recognize his lies, renew your mind to the truth, and turn to Jesus, you can begin to experience what you always have in Christ.
You don’t have to live in fear.
CONCLUSION
God is sovereign, and He is willing to give the enemy some latitude in carrying out his evil intentions for the purpose of drawing us into deeper dependence on Him. This is what we were designed for. He created us to live in union, communion, and dependence on Him.
As God begins to reveal to us that we’ve been making to little of our enemy, His goal is to lead us to dependency on Him. He doesn’t want us to live in fear but rather to trust that He is bigger and greater than the things of this world and that Satan is attacking us with. As we lean into Jesus, we experience what we have constantly in our union with Him.
Learn to recognize Satan’s tricks and lies and then rebuke them with the truth of who you are in Christ and all that you have in Him. Don’t get caught up in the tricks of the enemy and make too little or too much of him.
We have lost touch with our hearts. In the pursuit of efficiency, success, and the busyness of our lives we have only been left with emptiness and longing.
If you're feeling lost, disconnected, wounded, broken, or if your heart just aches for something more, you’ve come to the right place.
The Sacred Romance is a journey of the heart. It is a journey full of intimacy, adventure, and beauty that will guide you to your fondest memories, greatest loves, noblest achievements, and even deepest hurts.
But the reward is worth the risk as you enter into God’s story and accept His invitation to experience His unfathomable love.
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