Ephesians 6:11 – 12 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
As we humans tend to do or believe everything to one extreme or another, I am going to divide us into 2 groups. 1 – Those who blame satan for everything bad in their lives. 2 – Those who pretend satan doesn’t exist. Which one are you? Hopefully, by the end of this, you may lean more toward the middle somewhere.
You cannot read the verses above without coming to an understanding that satan is indeed real and that we – as Christians – are at war with him and his hordes of demons. However, these verses do not remove the fact that we are pretty good at sinning on our own (ref. Romans 3:23) . Nor do they remove the fact that our God tests us and disciplines us in order to grow us into the Christians He wants us to be.
So … what does a satanic attack look like and how can we stand against them? I wish I had the one perfect answer for you, but I do not. However, what I can offer are my own personal struggles and how I deal with them.
There are many things that happen in my life that are bad that are simply results from the sins in my life that come from being a sinner … such as debt, weight gain, snapping at my kids, laughing at my wife when she runs into an exercise bike because she didn’t turn on the light – not that this ever happened … and I made sure she was ok first. I do not go around giving satan credit for these. I beat myself up about them. I ask God to change me and strengthen me to make be better. I discipline myself to overcome these.
So, from where do the satanic attacks come. For me, I find that satanic attacks are more frequently mental attacks. I say “for me” because “for Job” they were definitely physical attacks. But in my case, they are mental. Small things will happen around me (things that are everyday type things), and I will begin having thoughts that make the small situation into something it is not … and was never going to be. These thoughts could be classified as lustful, power-hungry, greedy, selfish, etc. I believe that these are real satanic attacks on me to get me to follow through with decisions that will be divisive or hurtful to those close to me. I cannot describe them much more than that. I finish by saying I have come to recognize them as attacks because try as I may … I am unable to simply dismiss them and start thinking of something new. The barrage continues.
There are only 2 things that I have found that help me during these times. Prayer and the Bible! I talk to God about what is happening. I voice my concerns. And I read His Word searching for answers to what I am dealing with.
I feel as if I have typed a bunch of rubbish above. I hope that is not the case. I hope that in these words, you have found some kind of truth or hope that can help you continue in your Christian walk.
