Resistance

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Over the past few years, I have started to be able to discern between my own misgivings, anxieties, and sinful thoughts, and troubling thoughts and emotions that are coming from an outside force, namely from the devil. (When I say, "the devil" I do not mean him as a person, but rather him as the embodiment of the fallen spiritual forces.)

It began on our survey trip to Japan about three years ago. Never before have I encountered such constant bombardment of my mental and emotional state. I cried as many hours as I slept during that week. I was not prepared. I had prayed; I had studied God's Word; I had done what I was told to do. And I do not mean to say that it was not enough because God is always enough. But most certainly what I had done was not enough.

I have known James 4:7 since I was a small child. I learned it from my pastor's wife in Joy Club and heard it repeated every year in VBS. I think even my children learned it from her, and to this day I can immediately bring it to mind in her voice, with her hand motions to go with it. I think many people probably know what it says. But what is it telling us?

What is resisting?

I think today's social media posts have reduced resisting to "not today, Satan." It's a statement of defiance -- and not much more. But if a police officer were to pull you over, and all you did was tell him 'No,' while following his directions, he would have no cause to arrest you for resisting. To say it, even to mean it, is not enough.

We must take up arms against him. And I think this is one area where Baptist Christendom has fallen short. There is a great gaping hole when it comes to actually doing battle with that old serpent. I don't mean that we are taught wrong -- certainly the messages I've heard on Jesus' temptation in the wilderness and on the Armor of God were good and true -- but they are so removed from what actual spiritual warfare looks like that the application is murky at best and often simplified to mere children's illustrations. What does it mean in my daily life to pick up the armor of God? How do I resist the devil?

I resist him by not prioritizing why. This is the shield of faith. Why did God allow...? Why did God say...? Why did God let...? Why did God...? I don't mean that it is bad to think on it -- certainly we ought to try to understand God -- but it is imperative that we remember His ways are so far above ours that we cannot even see them unless He deigns to reveal Himself. He does not owe me insight to His plans or His purposes. The shield of faith cuts the feet out from under the desire to know. Faith is okay with never knowing why. Faith does not demand an answer. Faith becomes a little child, looking up at a loving Father and, with quivering lips and leaking eyes, simply asks to be held, to be closer. Blessed are those who believe when they have NOT seen.

I resist him by replacing his whispers. On the survey trip, the only sleep I did get was when I had my Bible app audibly playing Scripture. We are blessed in an age of tech -- use it! Saturate yourself with godly music and the Word. In my experience, it is often the only thing that will shut him up and drown him out. Do not think it poor or uncomely to fall asleep to the words of God. God is not offended that His voice is a comfort, that it is safety, that it is our defense. Run to His voice by whatever means you have available. You have a hymn book? Sing it. You have a Bible? Read it. You have the internet, hit play.

I resist him by doing what is right, even when he makes it look wrong. Satan will do his very, very best to make the good things look harmful, and the bad things look restful. He knows very well that we are but flesh, and we are tired. We are weary. We must gird our loins with truth and put on the heavy breastplate of righteousness, and though we may be weary in body and mind, we must not grow weary in well-doing -- because we shall reap, if we faint not.

Satan wanted very badly for me not to go to church a few Wednesdays ago. He knew what was going to be preached, and he knew it was going to bolster me. He saw it coming, and oh, how hard he made it seem to go to church! How weary, frayed, and fragile I was! How many "what if"s he tried to whisper in my ears.

It was one of the most soul-filling sermons I've heard all year. It was both difficult to swallow and utterly delightful. Satan will try to get you to starve yourself, to isolate yourself from other Believers, to believe that it is not worth it. But, grounded in truth, we must, as the late Ron Hamilton wrote, "Do right til the stars fall.... If you love the Lord, do right!" Or as the Psalmist put it: "Ye that love the LORD hate evil!" You will not do what you hate. Put on righteousness. Do not argue with him about whether God said not to touch the tree. Go tend the garden.

Lastly, I resist him with humility. I cannot defeat Satan. I cannot even defeat a man! I am a small, middle-aged, breaking-down woman. I cannot defeat him. I can only resist. But God has promised that if I am faithful to resist, he will flee. Because of me? Because of my power? My accomplishment? No, of course not. Because "if God be for us, who can be against us?" Do not resist him in your power. Do not resist him in your strength. You will fail, and he will win. That is why James does not start with resistance. He starts with submission, with humility. Humble yourself before the LORD; in faith, submit yourself to His will; resist the devil -- and he will flee.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.