It has been said that Satan's worst fear is when believers believe even when there is no reason to. Maybe. I'm not sure that's quite right. We are told, for instance, that we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). Does that mean we can't see anything? I don't think so.
Picture the Israelites at the Red Sea. In front of them is a vast expanse of water and behind them is Pharaoh's army breathing down their necks ready to recapture and re-enslave them. They weren't happy (Exo 14:11-12). Moses figured God would fight for them, but he was wrong. God told him, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward" (Exo 14:15). So Moses followed instructions, stretched out his hand, and the sea was parted. Now, which of you would have been the first to walk into that? Based on what? Israel's salvation (literal in this case) was a step of faith. They had to go where it seemed impossible to go with nothing to confirm it. They were walking by faith. Without sight? Oh, no, there was sight -- hindsight. They had lived through 10 "impossible" plagues in the recent past, culminating in the deaths of every firstborn in Egypt ... except their own. Their trick? Blood on the door. So if the God that could pull off all that offers you a way forward that is not clearly seen but is clearly indicated, you take it. You walk not by sight, but by faith.
There are times -- many times -- when we "walk by faith, not by sight" in the sense that we can't really see what's coming, what the plan is, how it will work out, even what exactly to do. "Trust Me," God says. And we do ... or we don't. We can because God has always been faithful and is actually Sovereign. Because we know that God is too wise to be mistaken and too good to be unkind. Because we know that God can do all things and do them well. Nothing is too hard for Him. The better we see that in hindsight, the easier it is to walk into an ocean. Which is Satan's worst fear -- believers who believe when the reasons to believe are not readily apparent. I'd like to make a practice of terrifying Satan that way.
3 comments:
I'd suggest that part of why that is Satan's worst fear is that it prevents his lies from taking hold. As the Father of Lies, his primary/only weapon is lies and when we cling to the Truth of YHWH's faithfulness, his lies can't take hold.
I wish it weren't such a struggle to live that way daily. The constant need to correct my initial reactions is frustrating.
I think you are exactly right that the devil especially abhors believers who have gone through a lot and their faith is strong because of it--not because there are no reasons to believe but precisely because they know there are! Experience and hindsight are the believer's best tools to build their faith in God and ward off Satan's fiery darts of doubt and worry, and the longer one knows the Lord, the better that experience and hindsight serve him/her.
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