Tuesday, April 16, 2024

WHEN SATAN ATTACKS

 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

               Murphy’s Law says this: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time." There is truth imbedded in that statement, especially when it comes to our spiritual journey. Satan is a master at throwing a monkey wrench into our plans at just the wrong time. Not every mishap is a direct act of Satan, but he knows how to use our missteps against us. There are times though when Satan definitely orchestrates things to cause the most damage to us as we seek to walk faithfully with the Lord.

               In the early 2000’s our church was on the rise. We were regularly topping 400 in average attendance in three Sunday worship services. Our Easter and Christmas service attendance was well over 500. We knew that it was time to make some strategic changes in order to break through the 400 barrier and move to the next level of ministry impact.

               With that in mind, we brought in an expert in church growth who met with our leaders and our congregation for a weekend of strategic planning. Two issues rose to the top that were keeping us from making further progress. We needed more space and we needed to expand our staff. The church embraced these recommendations and quickly moved forward. We started a building program to expand our facilities and we hired more staff. Then the bottom dropped out. The 2007-2008 financial crisis hit and derailed our plans.

               The global financial crisis was not directly related to our decisions, but Satan used it to attack our church. By that time there was nothing we could do about the building project; it was a done deal. As our income took a major hit, we found ourselves with a financial dilemma. As the crisis lingered our situation got worse. In the end we had to let one of our staff go. The outcome of that was that we lost people in the process, which only made the situation worse.

               In addition to the external issues, some internal issues arose that further destabilized our church. The result of those issues caused further exodus of people and staff. When the dust finally settled, we had dropped back to a church of about 250. People were discouraged and disoriented, including the senior pastor, me. It took several years to begin to rebuild a sense of direction and purpose.

               I share this now because the church I am currently serving is in the process of selecting a new senior pastor. Over the past 1 ½ years we have worked hard to heal wounds and to seek God’s direction for the church. Many good and encouraging things have happened during that time. We believe that God has brought us to the place where we can confidently move forward. Now is the time that we need to be on our guard. Satan would like nothing better than to sabotage the process. He wants to rekindle old hurts and open wounds that we have worked so hard to heal.

               Peter warned us that Satan is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Satan is always looking for a weak spot from which to attack. He wants to use circumstances and people to not just muddy the waters, but to stop positive progress. Now is the time to put on the full armor of God. We cannot afford to be complacent. We need to actively resist Satan.

               In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us that if we are going to be able to take our stand against Satan’s attacks, we need to be fully equipped.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)
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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

               We need to be fully aware of who our real enemy is, and it is not the culture or the people around us. We also need to be intentional about equipping ourselves with the resources that God has made available to us. In addition to this, we need to be confident in the power of God at work in us. As James says, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8a (NIV)

               Satan wants to distract us and discourage us. He does that by getting our eyes off of Jesus and onto the things going on around us. Like Peter, walking on the water, when we take our eyes off of Jesus we begin to sink. But when we stay focused on Jesus, we can resist the attacks of Satan. Remember, You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 (NIV)

Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV)
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 

 

 

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