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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