The Apostle Paul labels Satan as the
Destroyer. His purpose is to kill and
destroy God’s people. One of his most
effective tools he has to accomplish his evil plan is discouragement. I once heard Dr. David Jeremiah tell
a story about Satan’s use of discouragement.
The following is a shortened version of that story.
One day Satan decided to go out of
business. (Don’t we wish?) He puts all his tools on display to
sell. He lines up, malice and hatred,
jealousy, greed, envy and many more. On
the far end of the display is a wedge-shaped tool that did not look real
menacing called discouragement. Of all of the tools this one carried the
highest price tag. Some one asked Satan,
“Why is this tool priced so much higher than all the rest?” Satan replies, “Because with it I can
pry open and get into people’s consciousness which I can’t do with any of the
other tools. And once discouragement
takes hold, all of the other tools work just fine.”
Oh no, will it ever
end?
Satan’s
work is no fictional story like the one above.
His schemes are active in the lives of all believers. Based on my experience, the following is a
general scenario of how the Evil One tries to use discouragement in our lives.
Things are
happening. Accusations are starting to
arise. I am accused of doing things I
haven’t really done. When there is some truth
to what people are saying, it is blown all out of proportion. When I confess my sins, Satan says, “you
think you are a Christian. How could you
do something like that? You are a
phony.”
And he
tries to seal his case by quoting scripture.
Taking it out of context, of course.
But my shield of faith is up and the
Word of God is in my mouth, and his fiery tarts are not getting into my
heart. Satan thinks to himself, I have one more strategy. I will just
outlast him. So, he starts a series
of hit-and-run attacks; just enough to keep me annoyed and frustrated. This goes on and on and on. Until I grow weary and start to think, will
this ever end? I begin to forsake the regular reading of His Word. The shield of faith starts to come down and
the Word of God is no longer active on my lips.
Satan seizes on the opportunity and launches a full-on frontal attack of
accusations and lies. My defenses are
down and I am open to his attack. The
Devil is just about to take me out, and I cry out, “Lord help!”
I open my Bible and God leads me to a
scripture like, “Greater is He that is in
you than he that is in the world.” And I start to ponder and meditate, Greater is He (capital H) that is in you
than he (small h) that is in the world. Each time I run this truth through my
mind, it starts to seep down into my heart, and my emotions start to
arise. It reverberates louder and louder
as God’s Spirit is bringing the rhema out of the logos. I get revelation; you are in a battle,
Ken. The shield of faith starts to arise
again and the two-edged sword comes out of my mouth. I address Lucifer directly, Satan, “greater
is He, you may be greater than me, but you are not greater than my God who
lives in me.” And furthermore, it is
written, Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James
4:7 NASB). “So Satan, obey the Word of
God! And you know what, he does. Not
because of my great faith or authority, but simply because God is faithful to
His Word.
The Devil is evil but he is not stupid. He knows that if our shield of faith is up and the Word of God is in our hearts and mouths, he’s not taking any territory. So he leaves, yes to fight another day, but in this skirmish, he’s a defeated foe. Isaiah 54:7 says, No weapon that is formed against you will prosper. God’s Word is true.
The Devil is evil but he is not stupid. He knows that if our shield of faith is up and the Word of God is in our hearts and mouths, he’s not taking any territory. So he leaves, yes to fight another day, but in this skirmish, he’s a defeated foe. Isaiah 54:7 says, No weapon that is formed against you will prosper. God’s Word is true.
Email:kenbarnes737@gmail.com
