As we are in the journey of learning about ‘the calling’ God has kept over our lives, we need to know about our enemy. The enemy is the one who is always waiting to stop us from doing the will of God in our lives. Therefore, we must have a complete understanding of our enemy and his strategies. This will help us to overcome the oppositions and trials on our way that we may stand in our calling till the end.
Under this topic, I am going to talk, in a practical manner, on what are the things that the devil will bring on our way in the walk with God, how he does that and how to overcome it all. Firstly, let’s look into the solution before we go to the problem, but the truth is that you already know the answer to the problem. Well, if you are wondering what the solution is? The answer is- relationship with God. I have already explained in detail about the various aspects of this relationship we are to have with God. Let me remind you of the 3 things that happen in the relationship with God:
Chiselling
Present yourself
No distraction
I ask of you that, as you read further, you will ponder and check how these different attributes of the relationship with God help us overcome the strategies of the enemy. There is one thing I need you to understand and remember throughout your life, No matter what your circumstances are, Always go closer to God and not away from Him. The answer to all problems and questions and situations are in the relationship with God. It is in this relationship that we find direction and guidance to our life. Sometimes we feel so unworthy to be in the presence of God because of what we have done or sometimes we feel angry as things didn’t go the way we planned it or happy cause everything turned out to be good and many more emotions in our life. But, no matter what emotion or feeling we go through it is essential that we share it and experience it in the presence of God. We need to prioritise God above all as God is the source of all wisdom and direction in our life. It is through the relationship we have with God that we will be able to stand in our calling continuously.
ABOUT THE DEVIL :
There is something that we need to understand about the devil. He is a liar and a manipulator. Whatever he says has lies in it, as he is the father of lies. There is a general idea about the devil that he is a red monster kind of being with horns and whatnot, well you get the picture right. But, the truth is that the devil will not show up in our life like that. The very idea of the devil being all red and with horns is a deception from the devil that we may not know who he is and how he operates. This is why we need to know how he works. To be able to identify the devil’s plans and schemes in our life as we walk in the calling of God.
§ THREATEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
The first step that the devil will take to stop you from doing the will of God is to threaten your relationship with God. This is because he knows that the relationship we have with God is the source and origin of our calling and the place where we receive the will of God for our lives. The devil’s main agenda is to stop us from doing the will of God that we may not go to heaven according to Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ Will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.Matthew 7:21
How the devil stops you from growing in the relationship with God is something we see on a day to day basis. Something that will not catch our attention, but if we let it grow in our life it will destroy us. This could be,
Work
duties and responsibilities
fear
worry of past or future etc…
As I said earlier, the devil will not come to you and say “here I am, I am going to destroy you”. He will come into your life in ways that will not grab your attention. What seems to be work is the tool he is using to stop you from spending time with God and the same goes with all the possible ways he uses to stop you from spending time with God.
The question that is possibly coming up right now is “if I don’t know how the devil is going to pull me down then how do I prevent it?”. Well as I said before, you have the key called relationship with God in your hands through which you will be able to identify the devil’s intentions and plans. But, often we don’t use this key. We are so consumed with all the things going around us. But, we must always give God the time that he requires in our life.
There is a truth that we need to know about God before we know about the other things that the devil brings in our life. What God says to us will never contradict the word of God. when I say “what God says” It may be a word of wisdom or knowledge or prophesy or guidance or counsel. We can use this quality of God as a criterion to know whether what is said over us by God through other people is from God or not. Because this is yet another way by which the devil can play games in our life.
§ DIVERT YOU FROM YOUR CALLING
After trying to threaten your relationship with God, the devil will try to go in the wrong path that God has not kept for you. This is why I talked about the word of God being the foundation of all that God says through all possible means.
The word of God is the foundation of all that God says through all possible means.
§ EXTERNAL
The devil may use the words of the people we honour and love to mislead us. It’s not that those people don’t want us to do the right thing, but the devil may use that to make us go in the right direction. Therefore, we need to always consult with God directly in His presence and check with the word of God. This must be a practice that we need to inculcate in our life. We need to do this no matter how convincing what we hear maybe. This is to be sure that we are going in the right direction according to God’s will for our life.
§ INTERNAL
The other thing that the devil does is divert us from our calling. This is very similar to what we saw earlier. Diversion can come in one of the two possible ways. Either we cause it or someone else causes it. What we saw earlier is how others influence can lead us in the wrong direction. The other option is as powerful as the former. The devil uses our weakness and fleshly desires to divert us from our calling. This is why we need to pay the price of self-denial in our life that we don’t give space for our fleshly desires to take hold of us. This is not easy rather it is the hardest thing for a human to do. But it is the only option we have got that we may not be influenced by the devil. If it is the hardest to do then how are we to do it?
The answer to that again is the relationship with God. I know I am being repetitive. The reason why I am being so is that the relationship with God is so important and the one thing that can make us walk continuously in the calling God has kept over our lives.
§ USE YOUR CALLING AS YOUR DISTRACTION
Now don’t get offended when I say that the devil will use your calling as your distraction. when I say this the first thing that probably comes to your mind is “I am to walk in the call of God just to fall by it”. But the secret is this:
Your focus must be God and not the calling
We will get this focus on God and not on anything else only when we get to know more about God and spend more time with Him. This is something we need to learn in our walk with God as it is very important. Why I say this is very important is because, if we do not get it right then it may be the deciding factor whether or not we will go to heaven.
Once we start walking in the call that God has kept over us and start seeing the will of God being fulfilled in and through us we need to be very careful and vigilant. This is because we are very likely to start enjoying the outcome of the calling of God more than God Himself. The devil will try to put in thoughts of pride and make us feel as though we are someone great and have achieved amazing things. He might use even the testimonies that people share with us as a means to bring us down. Therefore, it is always a good practice that we present ourselves and surrender and humble ourselves before God and realise that fact that everything that God is doing through us is because of God and not because of us. The devil will put many lies and manipulations in our head but we need to go to God, ‘the truth’ and let Him transform our minds regularly that we may walk in the call. God has kept over us.
§ BRING OPPOSITION
The next thing that the enemy does is bring opposition or problems in our life. These problems can be physical like financial or health or job-related or with relationships etc… This could also be problems in our mind in the form of fears, anxiety, worry, depression etc… The two main weapons of warfare that we have got against all that the enemy brings according to Ephesians 6 are the shield of faith and word of God which is the sword of the spirit.
above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;Ephesians 6:16-17
According to this scripture, we need
Faith
Word of God
These are very important to endure and to overcome what the enemy brings against us. We need to hold on to faith as the shield which will protect us from all the fiery darts the enemy brings against us. As our offensive weapon, we need to use the word of God just as Jesus used it when the devil tested Him in the wilderness. Another practical solution to overcome the opposition that the enemy brings is worship. Worship is a place where we meet and encounter the presence and glory of God. This glory of God will enable us to live a pure, holy and victorious life.