Spiritual warfare #3

 There are five ways to understand God. Some deny God’s existence (atheism). Others dislike or reject God (agnostic). Others would ignore God (secularism). Some think that God exists but does not get involved (deism). Then there are those who believe that God interacts with humanity (theism). In the study of spiritual warfare, I am assuming the existence of a personal God who interacts with us. I also believe there is a personal devil who is a god-pretender and a bitter enemy of humanity.

 

Whether we like it or not, Satan (formerly called Lucifer) has abilities many Christians would ignore. Sometimes this is done by denial, and sometimes this is done by deliberately being ignorant. The thought process in denial is “proven” by 1 John 4:4, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” [NLT]

 

What John is saying is accurate. However, our interpretation of it is not true. Sticking our heads in the sand or saying “it ain’t so” doesn’t change the facts. Satan does have many ways to make life difficult for the Christian. Before I get into the next one, let me remind you that the enemy of your soul is on a leash. The devil can only go so far, as allowed by God, for your benefit. It stinks to think God would allow a dangerous adversary to cause His children problems, but let’s look at one of those abilities.

 

Satan can cause incurable illnesses and pain. 2 Corinthians 12:7 records Paul’s struggle, "So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited." Notice the point that this illness, caused by a satanic agent (traditional understanding of "messenger") was allowed to keep Paul from becoming proud.

 

Paul prayed three times for this to go away (see 2 Corinthians 12:8). Then Paul records the lessons he has learned. 2 Corinthians 12:9a, Paul states, “He said to me, “My grace is enough for you because power is made perfect in weakness.” [CEB] One annoying tendency is to steal God’s glory by thinking that we have somehow accomplished something through our hard work and intelligence. Paul would rather that “Christ’s power can rest on me.” [2 Corinthians 12:9c CEB]

 

The next reason is that Paul learned to be content: “Therefore, I’m all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ.” [2 Corinthians 12:10a CEB] Too many of us lash out at anything that disturbs us. We end up thrashing against the will of God.

 

Finally, Paul’s tagline for this illness is, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." [2 Corinthians 12:10b ESV] The word translated as "strong" gives the sense of "absolute." Imagine this: The enemy of your soul causes physical and emotional anguish only to watch God make you invincible.