Editor's Note: There are a lot of Scripture references in this one. Don't feel like you need to look each one up, but I've put them in for two reasons: one being to back up what I'm saying, and the other being that if you want further study and/or encouragement, you are free to look them up when you have time.
A Mother's Fight
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world." (1 Peter 5:8-9)
Maybe it's somewhat irrational, but when I'm at the zoo with the kids and we go to see the lion exhibit, even though there's a huge pit between them and us, I'm always inclined to pull the kids in a little closer to me, and I'm a little more alert and ready to run than when we're at, say, the petting zoo. Now if you heard a news report that one of the lions had actually escaped and was being sighted around town, it wouldn't be anywhere close to irrational for you to be on continual alert, for you to keep a very close watch on your kids, for you to watch your back anytime you had to leave the house. Why? Because lions are dangerous. They can kill you.
Peter compares the devil to a prowling lion in 1 Peter 5:8, and tells us to be sober-minded and watchful, in order that we may not be devoured. If we get caught unawares, our reaction time will be less swift, and we're more likely to be taken down. So we need to be on the alert at all times. Now this alertness is not an anxious alertness. This prowling lion is dangerous, but he's still under God's sovereignty. However, just as if a real lion was stalking our neighbourhood, we need to be watchful, and not just of ourselves, but of our children and others under our care. Are we alert to the devil's schemes? And are we training our children to be alert as well?
Here are some of the things we need to be watchful of, if we are to resist the devil and his attempts to destroy us:
1) Alert to Deception: What lies am I prone to believe? The Bible calls the devil "the Father of Lies" (John 8:44) and "the deceiver of the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). Just as he did in the Garden of Eden, he seeks to undermine God's truth in our lives by whispering his evil lies and questioning God's words to us. We need to be aware of our doubts and unbelief, so that we will not remain in it. Unbelief shows up in our hearts with questions like these: Does God really care about this situation? Is God really working for my good here? Can I really be saved from all the horrible things I've done? Am I not good enough to get to God without the cross? Can God really use my fallible leaders to help and guide me? Can other members of my church really understand what I'm going through, or be of any real help to me?
Resist: When I am tempted to disbelieve God's words and believe the devil's lies, I need to meditate on Scriptures that reaffirm to me God's truth, and help me hold fast to it.
2) Alert to False Guilt: Am I feeling guilty for sins I've repented of? This is a particularly common brand of the devil's deception. Satan literally means "the Accuser" and John refers to him as "the accuser of our brothers" in Revelation 12:10, saying that he accuses us "day and night before our God". He constantly whispers to us that we are sinners, guilty before a holy God and unable to be saved. He wants us to fall into despair, to believe the lie that God is not pleased with us, that our sins are too great. He wants us to be paralyzed by guilt, so that we are no longer energized and full of gospel faith to serve our God, to share His gospel. He wants us to give up and turn away from our Saviour.
Resist: These are lies! 1 John 1:9 tells us that "if we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If we have repented, our sin is forgiven, gone, done away with! God sees us through the perfect righteousness of Christ, "as if [we] had never sinned, nor been a sinner." Revelation 12:10 goes on to say that the Accuser has been thrown down, conquered by the blood of the Lamb. Your sin is gone. Don't try to wallow in it!
3) Alert to Circumstantial Trials: What situations in my life could present temptations to sin? When we encounter trials in our lives, those are places where temptations to discontentment or anxiety will be present, and the devil will have opportunities to work. So we need to remind ourselves to be on the lookout when life gets difficult. It may be easier to recognize these temptations when the trials are large and the fighting is hard, but we need to be aware of the temptations in minor trials as well. It just takes a whiny child or a broken appliance or a stubbed toe to create temptation to dissatisfaction and anger. It just takes a call from a guest to say that they're only 15 minutes away to tempt us to anxiety. And if we're not on our guard against these little circumstantial temptations, the devil will have ample opportunity to tear us down, little by little.
Resist: That's why we need to be casting our anxieties and our discontentment on God as soon as we recognize them, and let Him carry them before the devil uses them to pull us down.
4) Alert to Relational Conflicts: Am I harbouring anger or bitterness against someone? The devil loves those little footholds we leave for him. As Jeremiah Burroughs wrote, "The Devil loves to fish in troubled waters." And conflicts between people are great opportunities for him, because he has the chance to get more than one person at the same time. That's why the Bible tells us not to let the sun go down on our anger (Ephesians 4:26-27) and to root out all bitterness (Hebrews 12: 14-15). How is my relationship with my husband? With my children? With my leaders? With my fellow church members? With people who've wronged me? With people I've wronged?
Resist: If I am having conflicts with others, I need to humble myself and ask forgiveness where I have been wrong, and with much prayer, to do as much as I am able to restore peace, even when it is someone else who has wronged me (Romans 12:14-21). If you don't know how to do this, The Peacemaker by Ken Sande is an excellent resource.
5) Alert to Pride: The Bible consistently warns against pride in the same context as telling us to resist the devil. After all, the devil appealed to Eve's pride in the Garden, telling her that if she would only eat that fruit, she would be like God and have great wisdom (Genesis 3:1-7). Notice that even in this passage, Peter begins by telling us that God opposes the proud, that we need to humble ourselves, and then goes on to tell us to be alert and watchful against the devil's schemes (1 Peter 5:5-9). James uses the same connection in James 4:6-10. And in 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul warns us against the pride of thinking temptation can't take us down, as that will likely lead to a fall. (Notice also the connection between grumbling or discontentment and the devil's destruction in verse 10). Where do I have pride in my life? Am I trying to be Supermom so others will think I'm great? Am I resisting admitting struggles and weaknesses to others because it will take me down a notch in their eyes? Am I feeling superior to others because of things I think I do better? Am I even aware of lack of humility in my life (often a good sign that there's secret pride there)?
Resist: We need to be praying for God to expose areas of pride in our lives, and intentionally seeking to humble ourselves both in what we say and in what we do. An excellent resource on this is Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney.
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But we shouldn't just be alert to the temptations; we need to be alert to our help in the fight, too!
6) Alert to Means of Grace: Do I make good use of the things God has given me for this fight? Ephesians 6:10-18, among other passages, lists several things God has given to help us resist the attacks of the devil, and we need to make use of them. Am I reading Scripture regularly? Do I believe what I read with a heart of faith? Do I pray often? Do I pray prayers of praise? Am I quick to run to God when I am tempted? Am I regularly gathering together with other believers, and being humble in sharing my struggles with them and allowing them to help me? Am I listening to good teaching from God's word and submitting to the leadership of my church? Am I participating in the Lord's Supper regularly? Do I listen to music that lifts my soul to Christ? Am I reading good gospel-centred books? These are all means of grace that God has provided to aid us in the fight against sin and against our adversary. We neglect them to our peril.
7) Alert to Means of Escape: Peter tells us to resist the devil, and James tells us that when we do that, he will flee from us. But in 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul also tells us that God never allows us to be tempted beyond what we can handle, and that he provides means of escape for us. Sometimes that escape looks like staying in the situation, but with much prayer and much praise and much work (If your children tempt you to anger, you can't really ship them out of the house... at least not for long! If your financial situation tempts you to anxiety, you may not necessarily be able to alleviate the financial strain; you need to be praying for peace and God's provision.) But sometimes the way of escape is actually escaping. For example, if I struggle with discontentment with the way my home looks every time I surf the web for home design ideas, I should probably stop my surfing! We need to fight temptation, but part of that fight is being alert to where we can legitimately avoid temptation without compromising our responsibilities.
8) Alert to the Spirit's Power: Am I fighting alone, or am I relying on the unimaginable power of the Holy Spirit at work in me? This is not a fight against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), so we cannot fight it with mere flesh and blood. But God has not left us to do so. If you are a believer in Christ, then God's Spirit is working in you. If we are walking in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, he gives us strength for the fight, he fights for us, and he is actually praying for us in the fight. And if the Spirit is praying for us, we know that God will listen, and do whatever he asks! (Romans 8 and Galatians 5:16-24)
9) Alert to the Hope of God's Victory: This is not a fight against flesh and blood. The devil is a deceiver and a destroyer, and has led many astray. But his time is short (Revelation 12:7-12)! God has already won the victory over the devil at the cross, and his full and final defeat is coming when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead and throw him and all his angels into the abyss forever. For now, he roams the earth trying his best to defeat God's people. But his best is not better than God's best, and we are assured that no true child of God can be fully and finally defeated by the devil. All true children of God will endure to the end. So we fight already knowing the outcome of the fight. We already know who has the victory. And this is hope that helps give us strength for the fight! (1 Corinthians 15:54-58)
That lion is roaming the neighbourhood, and he's hungry. But God has not left us without means for the fight, and He already has the victory. So let's stay alert, and praise God for the outcome we know is sure!
I have a few more thoughts on this, coming over the next few days. And yes, they'll be shorter :)
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