This is the only activity I ever want associated with Satan in my life—He needs to be, ‘on the run.’
In other words—not in my life at all. However, should he choose to sneak in from time to time—thinking he might have a fingernail hold or a pinky toe in the chain link fence—I’m glad to know I have a foolproof plan guaranteed to make him flee—instantly!
Heed this and you’ll be a Satan repellant!
It’s found in the book of James, chapter 4 and verse 7,
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.(A) Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Little disappointed? Be honest. I’ll bet at least some of you are. I’ve read verses like this and rather than help, they’ve made me kinda depressed. Why? Because I often feel like my pursuits of God embolden the evil one instead of making him flee. For example, I think of how often I go to study God’s Word and the moment I crack open the Bible it’s like it releases some sort of general anesthesia! My eyelids increase in weight until I can no longer hold them open and my head resembles one of those bobble-head statues as my chin repeatedly drops to my chest and I keep jerking my head back up and try to focus on the passage before me.
What in the world?! It doesn’t happen all the time—not even most of the time, but it happens enough for me to wonder what’s going on? Why does Satan have that kind of power at certain times and not at others? I mean, I’m submitting to God aren’t I? I’m reading His Word and doing what James talks about…
Or am I?
The struggle to understand this would continue for years until I truly comprehended what this verse was asking us to do (which I’ll share with you in just a moment).
Have you ever felt this way?
Good, I’m not alone. No point in continuing if I’m sounding like the teacher on those Charlie Brown specials… ‘Blah, Blah, Blah.’
To have victory in this area, let’s take a look at the times Satan doesn’t get the victory. What makes the difference?
I’m talking about those times Bible study starts out hard and I sense the Grim Anesthesiologist Reaper coming for me, but somehow, he never quite arrives. I get into the Word and my time with the Lord is awesome!
The difference is simple. When I feel sleepy, I RESIST IT. I’ve already submitted when I go to read the Word or spend time in prayer–but this is a bit more. This is all about hanging in there when the first wave of attacks are lobbed over the fence. Pretty easy, huh? Yep, it’s that simple. I push back, throw cold water in my face, grab a cup of coffee, do some push ups, whatever—but I don’t say to myself, “Ahh, this would be a great time for a nap,” and then proceed to lay down and close my eyes. That’s not resisting. That’s giving in.
When we feel like giving in we need to remember something very important about Satan—he’s not omniscient. He can’t read my mind, he can’t be everywhere at once and he cannot look into my heart. He’s dependent solely upon trial and error to see what works. Therefore, if he sees that a little sleepiness, or a headache, or worry or busyness will keep us from worship or Bible Study, guess what will happen?
You’ll have perpetual headaches. You’ll experience chronic sleepiness or never-ending anxiety. Through trial and error, he’ll find the key to slowing down your spiritual growth. I know he’s done it to me enough times—all because I didn’t fully understand this one verse.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.(A) Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
It’s in the moments of wavering (when the headache comes or the sleepy feeling) that we need to trust God and forge ahead. There’s something spiritual going on in these moments and when a believer determines to forge ahead it will do to Satan what kryptonite does to Superman.
How’s that for power?!
And this is one weapon more believers need to take advantage of.
- Don’t feel like praying? Pray anyway and Satan will flee.
- Don’t wanna read your Bible? Push through and Satan will loosen his grip and run—taking his little fairy, sleeping dust with him!
- Don’t want to go to church? Get up, get dressed, and go anyway—Those will end up being the most inspirational and life changing worship experiences of them all!
- Don’t feel like you can tithe? Give anyway and trust God’s promise to provide.
The truth is, most of God’s blessings lie on the other side of our unrelenting pursuit of Him—not on the front end.
God loves to be chased. So chase Him, and if Satan jumps in the middle of your path—stand your ground. I guarantee he’ll blink first!