Troublesome Topic: SATAN USES OUR TOMORROWS AGAINST US

One of Satan’s favorite words is “wait.” If we are present for an altar call, or reading an article about how to right an injustice perpetrated against the weak and the helpless, or feeling led to stop what we are doing and pray for someone, Satan will try to persuade us to wait. He will not tell us it is wrong to do that thing, instead he will tell us to do it later, maybe tomorrow. But every tomorrow has its own tomorrow, so tomorrow never arrives.

God calls us to action; Satan encourages procrastination.

Satan wants us to wait because if we do, he knows he has a reasonable chance of getting us too busy or distracted to follow through with that action. Almost without exception, when God speaks to you about doing something, He intends for you to get started doing it right away. I am convinced that when God asks us to do something He means “now,” not “some unspecified day in the future.” But you may say, “What about dreams that may not come true for many years?” Regarding dreams, God may want us to start preparing now for the time when He will bring all the pieces together for that dream. But preparing is doing something, in fact it is a very important something. Believing and preparing are very different from doing nothing.

In your life, learn to raise some big red flags when you hear a voice telling you to wait on doing what you know you should do.

Satan will often try to get you to focus on all the other good things you are already doing, or all your other responsibilities. But those other things are not the point. In that moment God’s Holy Spirit has asked you to lay down a bad habit, or pick up a new challenge, or make some change in your life. Stay focused on what God has asked you to do, say “Yes,” and then get started immediately. See any attempt to get you to wait as a ploy of the enemy, for that is what it is. He will make it sound reasonable, and even right, but it is still a ploy of the enemy, and the enemy does not want what is best for you.

Other Aspects of Tomorrow

Satan will use our tomorrows against us in other ways as well. He will try to get us to worry about tomorrow’s unknowns, especially in the areas of finances and relationships. Or he will get us to dream big dreams that do not include God, only the Treacherous Trio – “me, myself, and I.”

Commit to God the aspects of tomorrow you cannot change, do what you can to prepare for all your tomorrows, and when God asks you to do something, get started today.

Satan Uses Time against Us

When it comes to doing what is right, Satan says wait.  But when it comes to temptation, he is willing to do the waiting.

You may resist temptation on day one, or day two, but Satan is patient, he will keep trying. He will wear you down. He knows your weaknesses and if he cannot exploit them against you on his first try, he will keep at it. Sometimes he changes his tactics, but sometimes he uses the same temptation against you day after day for months until your defenses grow weak.

James 4:7&8 says “resist the Devil and he will flee from you; draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” We cannot continually be victorious against temptations if we are not actively fighting against the tempter. The word used in this verse for “resist” was often a military term; it meant “to fight against.” We need to take the fight to the enemy in the name of Jesus and using Scripture. One key here is to know the Bible well enough to be able to use it to fight off the enemy. Satan knows the Bible very well; do you know it well enough to realize when he is twisting God’s word in order to deceive you?

We also need to “draw near to God.” That is probably even more important than fighting against the enemy. We need to have a good connection with God, which means quality time in prayer and in His word, as well as removing any obstacles that might hinder our relationship with Him.

The key points here are:

1. Actively fight against Satan and his minions. Don’t be passive and hope that you don’t fall for his temptations.

2. Always be learning from God’s word and saturate your mind with it.

3. Spend quality time in prayer.

4. Remove from your life anything that hinders your relationship with God.

5. Realize that Satan thinks time is on his side; he is willing to wait; he is confident that he will get you to fall eventually so he will keep trying day after day for as long as it takes. He never gives up; he never stops attacking and tempting you.

6. Keep in mind that, “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (I Jn 4:4).

The next lesson is Satan Uses Our Brain Structure against Us