We have spent some time discussing the armor of God and withstanding the tactics of the devil, so with 20 days left, I wanted to talk about what the Devil's tactics actually look like.
The word "wiles" is used often in different translations as "tactics" but wiles comes from the greek word methodos. The literal translation to english is "with a road." This is meant to mean that the devil really only has one method, one road, of attack. What is this method? In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul says "we are not ignorant of [Satan's] devices." From the greek noemeata, this most directly translates to wicked schemes. These schemes always aim to attack the mind. The devil uses our minds as his playground, trying to bring havoc wherever he sees a vulnerable area. This is why Paul said we must bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We must learn to recognize these devices of the devil and not give them any merit. The last key word used is deception. This is the successful attacks of the devil that lead you to believe the lies he has been attacking you with. The moment we accept these lies as truth is the moment when we begin to produce these realities in our lives.
For example, for me, I have learned to recognize exactly where the devil tries to attack me. It is normally in the area of self-worth. The devil has repeatedly tried to tell me "You are not good enough. You are not good enough for God's salvation. You are not good enough to be a small group leader. You are definitely not good enough to lead a team of 19 to Nuevo Laredo. You are going to fail." The method he takes is to attack my mind, using the only trick in his bag- telling lies. He hopes that he can complete this deception and keep me paralyzed with fear, never moving forward in my faith, never stepping out and leading. When you embrace the lies of the devil and believe them as true, you give power to them!
I have been reduced to tears on multiple occasions from these feelings, especially when you run into hardships trying to accomplish things, but I know God is on my side. I know He is the one that is responsible for my success, or my failure, lifting that burden off of my shoulders. Does this relieve me of all responsibility, letting me just do whatever I want and hope for the best? I don't think so. I think God calls us to put forward our best effort, but then wants us to leave the results to Him.
1 Corinthians 3:5-7 says "What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." So regardless of where you find yourself, let God take the burden of success off of your shoulders so you can live in His freedom!
In one of my next posts, we will talk about David and Goliath, and how that is one of the clearest Biblical examples of spiritual warfare in the Bible. I had never thought about it this way, but I saw the story through a different lens this time around.
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