Have you recently been in a place in life where you feel the enemy attacking you from all sides?
Without insulting you, I would suggest if you haven’t then you probably have yet to take on anything significant in the name of Jesus. The enemy’s attacks often come when you become a threat.
The enemy would find no reason to struggle against you if you and he were moving in the same direction. His goal is to get you to abandon your trust; abandon your faith; and turn not so much to Him but to simply turn from closeness with God amidst your struggle. We often will do that as a reaction to many struggles.
The enemy has a very interesting strategy he wants to work through in our lives. For many of us, when things get way overwhelming, that is when we turn to the Lord. It seems that the devil is most successful in attacking me to a point of crippling my usefulness to the Kingdom when he keeps the attacks to a moderate level. Here is a breakdown of how I see levels of attack on my life and my resulting reaction, 1 being lowest and 5 being the highest.
- No Attack = Too blessed; God is too Good.
- Soft Attack = No need to stress; I can handle this.
- Medium Attack = Stressing a little; I need to get a little closer to Jesus and we got this.
- Strong Attack = Very stressed; I don’t have time to get much closer to Jesus.
- Full Force Attack = REALLY?; This is clearly a job for Jesus.
I know that this breakdown doesn’t say much for my theology, but it helps my self awareness. I can guarantee you that I am not the only party who is aware of this set of current reactions to stressful circumstances. God knows me best of all and the enemy is clever and crafty and has learned me as any warrior in battle should know His opponent.
With my current patterns being what they are, I must be as thankful for the pain as I am for the joy. It seems those extremes are the ones where I experience the truest senses of closeness and connection with God.
When the rain is the hardest, it is the most obvious for me that I need an umbrella. When it’s just drizzling I put up with it. When there’s a mild shower I simply move quicker to try and stay dry. However, torrential down pour means it is time to get protection.
Now I want to challenge you to look at your “rain pattern.”
What are your reactions to circumstances?
How can we shift those reactions to result in God honoring and God seeking heart positions and mindsets?