Satan vs. God

Facing our worst fears is one of the hardest and most incomprehendable things to do. Satan, the enemy, and our own self-destructive natures combine to taunt us with "what-ifs."

Once we are in Christ, Satan has NO authority to destroy us, so he settles for the next best thing: threatening to destroy us. Based on our human histories and behaviors he deduces what we ourselves are most convinced would raze us. What we are convinced would be the "worst possible thing right now."

To the Devil, the irony is delicious: Our distrust in God tattles on us, telling our enemy exactly how to get to us. Many of us habitually rehearse, "If __________ every happens, then I'll just ___________." Our fears become like long, bony index fingers pointing at our vulnerabilities. Once Satan sees what we believe would be the end of us... he threatens and torments us with it.

Our natural human defense is to grovel before God and plead with Him not to let those things happen. Our "conditional trust" not only makes us an open target for enemy torment; it also positions us as negotiators and beggars before God instead of our real positions as secure children who trust their lives to their faithful Father.

Those times when our fears become reality, we feel devastated. We think that God is unfaithful, and Satan essentially gets what he wants--- us to believe that LIFE IS OVER!!!!!! Unless our belief system changes, for all practical earthly purposes, it is. After all, as a man thinks, SO IS HE. (Prov. 23:7)

Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge proponent of praying against what we fear and for the desires of our hearts. I also believe that we're free and safe to voice our worst nightmares to God.

But, in times of Crisis and demonic attack, however, our vulnerable souls need something more. The most critical breakthrough of faith you and I could ever experience is to let God bring us to a place where we trust him --- period. We don't just trustHim to let us avoid what we fear most. We determine to trust Him no matter what, even if our worst nightmare befalls us. We have no greater victory that can render Satan. There is no harsher blow than that.

FILL IN THE BLANKS....

"If ____________________, then God will take care of me."
"If ____________________, then God has a plan."
"If ____________________, then God desires to accomplish something moumental in me."
"If ____________________, then God's going to demonstrate his sufficiency to me."


Each one of those statements reverses the fiery darts of Satan and causes a ricochet back into his ugly, stupid face. Nothing about this approach is easy, nor am I anywhere close to mastering it.
No one welcomes suffering or crisis. Equally, no one can wholly avoid it. Though most of what we fear never happens, our lists roll out so long that some of it probably will. Our only steadfast defense against life's certain uncertainty is unconditional trust in a Savior who loves us more than His own life.

May God plant these convictions deeper than the thorns of earthly pain can penetrate. As hard as trusting can be, living with constant fears is harder.

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATH STRAIGHT!!!! (Prov. 3:5-6)