Choose Your Best Weapon
Sometimes it is very easy for me to feel that I am the only person going through hard times. Like, I know that everyone faces challenges in their lives and I truly believe that there are so many people who face way worse challenges than mine, but at the same time, I still have a narrow mind that leads me to believe that I am the only person being attacked. I always respond to these attacks with the same thoughts of “no one understands.” But that is just what Satan wants you and me to believe. Satan is sneaky and does what he can to make us feel all alone and isolated. I mean, it makes sense, right? We tell women not to go out alone late at night, we tell children to partner up with a friend on field trips, and as women, we don’t even go to the bathroom alone. Why? Because we know and have been taught that we are vulnerable to attack when we are alone. Being alone or even the thought or feeling of being alone is just what Satan wants in order to set up his attack. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Now imagine a zebra. The zebra doesn’t graze in the field alone but instead is surrounded by the other zebras in its family. A lion hides and watches until one zebra wonders off or becomes isolated from the group. As soon as the lion has the zebra right where he wants him he attacks. The lion knew he had to wait until the zebra was away from the others before his plan would work. It’s the same for us. Satan has plans to get us alone or feeling alone. His plan works when we are weak with no one to help us.
Jesus was in a very similar situation after being baptized by John the Baptist and led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Let’s read more about this in the book of Matthew.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will give his angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.”
Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.”
Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus was in a very vulnerable state. During a time in His life right after being baptized, he was brought into a place all alone. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. He was hungry and if Jesus is anything like me when I am hungry then he might be irritable and willing to do anything for food. He was probably weak from not eating and probably felt alone and helpless during this time. It’s super easy for us to sometimes forget that Jesus was human just like us. He had emotions like us, was tempted like we are, goes through the same struggles in life as you and me and we have to remember that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus was tempted by Satan three different times. Let’s pause there for a moment… If Jesus was tempted and attacked by the devil’s schemes, what makes us think that we won’t be? The good news is that Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33). He chose the best weapon.
Jesus chose to fight Satan with the one thing that Satan could not win against. Take a look at Matthew 4:3-4. Satan tempted Jesus first with psychical needs but Jesus replied using what? Scripture. Let us reflect on this lesson from verses 3-4.
· Do we allow Satan to control our emotions and in return control us or do we use God’s word to battle our feelings and the lies Satan throws at us?
· What is one way Satan is trying to attack your emotions right now?
· What scripture can you use to combat the lies Satan is throwing your way?
So, Satan took the first punch but Jesus quickly hit back using Scripture as his weapon of choice. Round one goes to Jesus! Don’t get too excited because Satan was one step ahead and quickly tried to use Jesus' choice of weapon against him!
How Well Do You Know Your Weapon?
In verses 5-6, Satan decides to get real sneaky and tries to use scripture to tempt Jesus. How often do we find Satan trying to do the same thing with us? It could be a friend taking scripture out of context to try and apply it to your life or even the media trying to use scriptures to make certain sin look worse than others or using scripture to ignore sin by saying, “Love covers a multitude of sin.” (1 Peter 4:8) While this scripture is true it doesn’t give others the right to keep sinning because scripture also says, “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! (Romans 6:1-2) Therefore it is important that we know our weapon through and through. Jesus knew his weapon. Jesus knew the Word of God and continued to battle Satan by pointing out the wrong use of context in the scripture in verse 7. It is important that we know our scripture and the best way to know scripture is to spend time studying scripture out and refreshing our hearts and mind with God's truths and promises daily. A weapon is most useful when the person using it better understands it. Let us take a moment to pause and reflect on verses 5-7.
· How has Satan tried to twist scripture in your life lately?
· How often are you spending with your weapon to know it better in order to fight? What challenges keep you from dedicating time to knowing God’s Word?
· How can you challenge yourself to spend more time in God’s Word? What sacrifices might you have to make?
Round two has ended but Satan is not giving up just yet! Instead, Satan takes on Jesus in a new round with one of the biggest temptations—Power.
Trusting in Your Weapon
In Matthew 4: 8-9 we see Satan tempting Jesus with becoming the ruler of the world. Satan took Jesus to the top of a mountain for him to see all he would become ruler over. I don’t know about you but that seems very tempting to me! All Jesus had to do was bow down and worship Satan and all this could be his! Jesus not only chose and knew his weapon but Jesus trusted in his weapon. In verse 10, Jesus replies “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” Jesus trusted in God’s Word and promises. Satan tried to tempt Jesus with earthy things that would rot away. Though they looked good at the moment, Jesus knew they would not last and trusted in God to provide for him.
It can be easy to trust in the things seen versus the things not seen. We need to trust in our weapon and our God. We need to know the promises God guarantees us and we need to have faith to cling to those promises even though we cannot see them just yet. We need to trust that the weapon we choose and know will protect us from Satan’s schemes.
· How strong is your faith in God and His Word? How well do you know the promises of God?
· Do you trust that God is faithful to you, fights for you, and loves you? (2 Thessalonians 3:3; Romans 8:31-32; Romans 5:5) How does this make you feel?
I want to leave you with one last scripture to meditate on.
Ephesians 6:10-18
Choose your best weapon, learn about it, and trust in it and you are sure to win against the Devils schemes.
Prayer
Dear God, I pray that you continue to guide and protect me as I fight against Satan’s schemes daily. I pray that when Satan is knocking at my door I cling to you and your word as my weapon in this fight and that I don’t put my trust in myself. God, I pray that I follow your truth over my emotions. Help me to place my trust in the things unseen and have faith in you and your promises. Thank you for always being faithful, protective, and loving towards me. I love you and in Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.
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