Have you ever faced an unrelenting foe? Has there been someone who would not stop attacking you? Is there someone in your life right now who does everything they possibly can to trip you up? Would you believe there is someone who has always been seeking your failure.
We all encounter someone during our lives who desires to see us fail. They may be an archnemesis. They may be hounding you right now. You may have overcome them or moved on, so they are no longer in your life. Yet, there is an enemy we all have in common.
Satan continually seeks our downfall. He tempts us at every opportune time. He may leave us alone for a short period of time, but he hasn’t given up. His goal is to cause us to fail. But what is failure? Failure is turning against God. Denying God exists. Being angry enough to curse God. Being disobedient to God. All of them at any time.
How do we know Satan will return to tempt us? Take the lesson from his encounter with Jesus. When Jesus had been in the wilderness for forty days without eating, Satan came after Him. When Jesus was able to withstand Satan’s attacks, Satan left Him. Yet, Satan would return when there was an opportune time. We can reasonably assume Satan was whispering in Jesus’ ear when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
If Satan returns when there is an opportunity, we can be confident he will return when we least expect it. He will return when we are weak. He will return when he can catch us off guard, when we are most vulnerable. We must be prepared for those attacks. The only way to be prepared is to have God’s Word in our hearts and minds to ward him off.
I pray we all know that Satan will seek to cause us to fail. I pray we learn the lesson from Jesus’ encounter with Satan. I pray each one of us will prepare ourselves for Satan’s attacks by having God’s Word in our hearts and minds. Know Satan will attack. Be prepared for Satan’s attacks.
Luke 4:13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Marty Pressey 