I was reading a blog by a Christian author about her personal revelation after her dog’s death; he was killed by a coyote and she was totally blindsided by the loss. Dog lovers will understand. Her heart was broken and, even though she was in the midst of receiving major blessings in the rest of her life, her heart became a little hard. She quieted her prayer life and refused to sing during worship in church. She wrote about it a lot on her blog, perhaps a little obsessively, and readers were well aware that this had been a huge loss to her. Eventually, she saw that “the devil will use anything at all, even a dog, to keep us from drawing close to Jesus”.
That struck a chord with me. The devil will, indeed, use anything at to keep us distracted, confused, hurt, angry, worried … anything at all to keep us from drawing close to Jesus. For me, it can be as subtle as a seed of doubt planted that grows into an obsessive thought or as obvious as discord with my family. I don’t always recognize spiritual warfare as the source during those times I feel far from the Lord. Sometimes I attribute it to my own doing and take full responsibility for the distance. Other times, I’m pretty good at recognizing the work of the evil one and I know it is a direct result of spiritual warfare. In either case, it’s important to remember that the enemy will use anything that works for us personally to his advantage to keep us focused on ourselves and not on Jesus. The devil will use anything at all, even a ____________, to forget God’s faithfulness. Fill in your own blank.
Then remember Paul's words: “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.” (Ephesians 6:11-12) God’s promises are greater than whatever the devil throws at us and if we do our part and stay suited up in the armor of spiritual warfare, the devil has fewer "anythings" to use to interfere with our relationship with Jesus. Stay in the Word, pray constantly, and claim God’s promises over and over and over until. Until when? Until you are back to where you belong with God. Suit up!
-Julie E