I lay in the hospital bed and listened to the woman next to me cry out, “Why me?”
A few days earlier they had found a lump on her breast, something every woman fears. She was still in a state of shock as she walked about the room crying and asking no one in particular: “Why me? Why must I have to be the one to suffer this way?”
In order to be truly victorious in our lives, we must learn to recognize our real enemy. When you think God is against you, remember this!
This week we’ve read similar words as Job cries out: “Why me, God? Why must I suffer this way?”
In the Job 19:21, we read: “Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me!” However, when we look back on chapter 1, we see that in fact it isn’t God who has struck Job but Satan. Satan had created a strategy to destroy Job and turn him against God.
Although that strategy didn’t work, Job did not recognize his true enemy.
Do you know that Satan has a strategy to destroy you? This isn’t something we need to fear because God’s power is a million times stronger than anything Satan can strategize; and just as he was not allowed to completely destroy Job, God won’t let him destroy you either.
But he does have a strategy, and he knows how to create a good one.
- To steal your desire to pray
- To steal your desire for God’s Word
- To steal your desire for church
- To steal your boldness to share your testimony
“The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
And we see these missing elements in our lives and feel guilty, because we suppose the problem is with us … when actually we have become a target for Satan’s strategy.
And the question is: What do we do about it?
We plan a better strategy!
My dear sisters, we are in a war. Sometimes we forget that we are not prisoners of war but warriors in God’s army! God has already given us everything we need to defeat Satan!
“Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:14-17).
But don’t forget this final weapon in our arsenal:
“Pray in the Spirit always with all kinds of prayer and supplication. To that end be alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18).
God isn’t against you, just as He wasn’t against Job; rather, we are in a war, and Satan’s strategy is for our utter destruction. This is why we must arise, put on our armor, take up our weapons and fight against him—strategically!
We see that we have four items of defense:
1. Belt of truth
2. Breastplate of righteousness
3. Shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace
4. Shield of faith
But we only have two offensive weapons
1. Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God
2. Prayer
And it is with these offensive weapons that we battle Satan!
First, we find verses from Scripture that address our current situation and that encourage our hearts:
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:2-3).
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will protect your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).
“Therefore guard your minds, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13).
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with rejoicing, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25).
“For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).
Keep a Prayer Journal
I can’t wait to share more on this! I have a whole post planned about this. In short, I have a notebook where I keep record of all my prayer requests, dated requests and answers to prayer.
But I have a special page: That page is for warfare! I write down areas of my life (or people for whom I am praying) where I feel I have a specific battle and what strategy I think Satan is using.
Then I write down verses and strategic prayers that pertain to that battle.
Dear sisters, we can live defeated, discouraged and disappointed …
Or we can arise in the mighty power of Jesus Christ, put on our armor, take up our weapons and be victorious over our enemy!
No—God is not against us, He is for us!
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
Rosilind Jukic, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her Bosnian hero. Together they live with their two active boys where she enjoys fruity candles, good coffee and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. Her passion for writing led her to author her best-selling book The Missional Handbook. At A Little R & R, she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be. You can also find her at Missional Call, where she shares her passion for local and global missions. She can also be found at on a regular basis. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +.
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