Mom Heart Moments #95

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

SOME YEARS AGO, after we had a great time with our children over the holidays, Satan came out unexpectedly and whapped us full force. It caused some havoc and lots of deep, abiding sadness in our family. This attack caused one of the saddest days I have known in many years. It was a strike against one of my children, which especially broke my heart.

Yet we must not be surprised in such situations, but rather on the alert, remembering there is an enemy who hates for us to keep faithful to our ideals for our families and for the Lord. Satan, Peter tells us, is our adversary. He prowls through the earth —like he did when he asked God if he could seek to destroy Job; as he did when Jesus said to Peter, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). Peter, who was so personally experienced at this, because of Satan tempting him to deny Jesus before His crucifixion, warns us to be on the alert. He is seeking, Peter tells us, to devour us!

We are, after all, in a battle that rages in this world —a battle for hearts and souls giving allegiance to the one true God. We have an enemy who is the enemy of God, and he wants to destroy us. Resisting him is the only way to cause him to flee.

I have learned to ask myself questions in the midst of my own dark times, and also to ask these questions of other women:

Who would like for you to remain bitter? Discouraged?

Who would like for you to give up on your ideals, to say, “I can’t do this anymore”?

Who wants you to be angry at your spouse? To be resentful of your children? Your family? Your in-laws?

How can you resist your enemy today?