The Enemy Is Cunning

The devil is cunning.

Sometimes more cunning than we give him credit for, and that says a lot  because I don’t  like to give the devil much credit.

I don’t like to make him bigger than what he needs to be. If I had my way he would be confined to a speck on the bottom of my sneakers.

But the cold reality is, he deserves credit.

Credit for disguising himself in the little things.

Credit for camouflaging himself among the small offenses.

See, we think that the serpent wants to be seen so he makes wars and dangles addiction in front of our children. We only think of him when “all hell breaks loose” When your grandchild is running away or your husband has found himself in the scandal of affair.

Those are the moments we yell “The devil is a liar!”

That’s when we call shut ins and start slanging anointing oil across every door post of our homes.

But what about that time your little sister read your diary? You called that “sibling rivalry” but you missed the seed of dissension the enemy planted in the heat of the afternoon.

You missed the slight offense that buried its roots deep in your mind when your brother told a secret he shouldn’t have.

You overlooked the enemy at work in you when you told Sister Jones “Is it me, or do they always got something to say!”

He slipped right past your line of sight, don’t see him leaving crumbs in your corners but you can spot him up the block in Bro. Jackson’s kitchen.

Distracted by the very appearance of evil in everyone else, we miss the fact that he visited us first. Planted judgment in our fingers and before we knew we were pointing out everything we saw, felt, and heard but never questioned why everything was such an issue.

Creating mountains out of mole hills God already addressed but we’re too distracted to see His hand at work.

We no longer turn our concerns over to him we create focus groups.

Gather the few that will listen, create group chats to tell them what you would do, all the while your hands stay tied by your hand back like you have been arrested in the spirit, but there is no spirit at work.

Mouths quick to move to assumptions instead of feat swift to find clarity in the midst of chaos.

I gotta give the enemy his credit.

He didn’t have to do too much at all.

Planted the seed you least expected and we watered it with our commentary instead of plucking it up with His word.

We feed it with our judgment, disdain, and dissatisfaction instead of cutting it down with the truth of His promises.

Spread it like weeds in an unkept garden looking for anyone who would listen, too self-righteous to admit that if I put my hand to the plow and till the soil where God has planted me, I would have less opportunity to complain about the ground not feeding me.

The enemy is cunning.

The enemy is persistent.

The enemy is not just ticking time bombs filled with chaos and corruption.

The enemy is not just perverse thoughts and deceptive plans.

The enemy is the little fights, The little confusions.

The enemy sits in your subtle pride and quiet critiques.

The enemy dwells in covert actions, and your intrusive thoughts.

He finds a home in your elusive comments to your brother and in the private conversations with your sister.

The enemy doesn’t stand out in the open and declares himself to the body.

The enemy sits among the multitude and latches on to your attitudes, waits for the perfect opportunity and embeds himself in your way of thinking and before you know it your feet are running towards division.

The enemy is cunning

But at what point do we discern him

God tells me that He wont leave me ignorant to the enemy’s devices.

At what point do we refuse to become ignorant?

At what point do we begin to question the little things while going to war for the monumental?

At what point do we war and watch?

My fear is that we aren’t watching. Watching will make you keen to the obvious and to the tenuous.

Aware of the things said and unsaid, heard and unheard. Watching will sharpen your attention to detail so that we don’t miss the fine print.

I fear we are not watching.

Lord give us a mind to watch.

Not just for the waging of war but for the minor disputes.

Help us to be slow to speak, slow to anger, and quick to hear what the enemy is doing while the entire world seems to be talking.

While we are focused on the things we think to do, help us to see you pointing us towards the places that need to be tended to.

Lord, give us the sight we need to remain vigilant to the subtleties of the enemy.

Keep us honest, integral, and help us to examine ourselves in a way that reminds us that we are in constant need of you.

Keep our hearts humble so that we may always have a mind to speak “ woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.”

Lord, we pray for the unity of your body and peace in the midst of chaos.

When the trivial things have gone unnoticed, Lord, wake us up so we may tend to the weeds that have sprouted in our own house.

Lord, I pray against the enemy the desires to weaken the body from the inside out.

I pray that love will be our portion and service our desire. Help us to put away selfish ambition so that we may glorify God and be servants unto the Lord, edifying the body of Christ.

All these things I pray,

In Jesus Name, Amen

Galatians 5: 13-16

NKJV

“ For you Brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

 AMP

“For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through love serve and seek the best for one another. 14For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is fulfilled in one precept, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit].” [Lev 19:18] 15But if you bite and devour one another [in bickering and strife], watch out that you [along with your entire fellowship] are not consumed by one another. 'But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts]. '