What is your situational awareness? Are you paying attention to all that is going on around you? Do you see and understand what is going on behind the scenes? Do you see through the fog of busyness the root of all the negativeness?
My observance of the human race is we are caught up in ourselves. We only see what is right in front of us, and only the surface. Our perspectives are limited by our shortsightedness. It is limited by our selfishness. We only care about the next ten minutes.
We are fooled by our enemy. Not the person we are at odds with, but our real enemy. The devil is continually looking to trip us up. He desires nothing more than to see us fail. Not in the traditional sense, but in a spiritual and mental sense. Oh, he’ll take the physical failure as well. But his true desire is to pull us away from God.
The failure doesn’t happen in just a moment. He chips away one small chip at a time. He entices us to think everyone is against us. He pulls us away from what we know is right. He whispers lies in our heads. He causes us to think highly of ourselves and offend others. He uses the smallest of things to plant doubt in our minds.
As Peter states in today’s passage, we are to be alert. This means we must be on guard, looking for the devil’s attacks. We are to realize we are living in a continual war. Our souls are at stake. No, it’s not a game, it is very real. He goes on to say we are to be of sober mind. Though it does mean we are not to be drunk, it also means we are to think clearly and critically. We are to look at the situation from every angle we can think of and ask God for guidance. We must realize almost nothing is what it seems at first glance or on the surface.
When we ask what is going on behind the scenes, we can be assured of one thing—if it is evil, the devil is behind it. When we are being persecuted, the devil is behind it. When bad things happen to those who believe in Jesus, the devil is behind it. He continually prowls around looking for ways to tempt us, trap us, and cause us to stumble. He wants us to feel guilty and ashamed. He wants us to be angry for any reason. He wants to pull us away from our good relationship with God.
I pray we all realize who is the root of all evil. I pray we recognize we are in a continual battle. I pray each one of us thinks critically through every situation and remain alert for the devil’s attacks. Be alert. Think critically. Stand firm in your faith. Know that God is always with you. Resist the devil. Know you are not alone.
1 Peter 5:8-9 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Marty Pressey 