Doing something right

Personal Photo: I snapped this photograph on Christmas Eve of 2020. We spend the holiday in Tennessee that year and we had a white Christmas. Because of the storm, we lost power, but we lit candles and the evening turned out lovely still. The candle shown here is just like us, and we can still shine our light for God amidst the devil's attempts to snuff it. He has no power over Christ!

When I was growing up, it was always important for us kids to try our hardest. Regardless of what it was, my brothers and I gave it our all, doing our best, and putting energy and effort into it. My mom always told us that we should be able to turn our work into Jesus; really, she was not only teaching us that we should seek acceptance from Jesus above anyone else, but also that trying our hardest and doing our best was not only enough, but how we could approach anything and everything in life. We were taught that we could do anything that we set our minds to, and that we should strive to do what is good and right by Jesus's standards, which I am grateful for. This mindset, this mentality, that was engrained in me has helped shape me into the person I am today. I still want to do the right thing, whatever that may be.

I am telling you this to lay a little bit of groundwork for you. It probably sounds like I had it all together, doesn't it? I will now explain that I was not considered popular by any means, I was teased for being too focused on homework, was told that I was too close to my family to make any room for friends and was made to feel as though 'fun' was not a word able to describe me. Think about your middle school, junior high, or high school experience. Was it really where you grew comfortable in your skin? Or was it a little bit more like mine, where people are mean, you feel uncomfortable, and your confidence became pretty battered? Maybe it still is. These moments of unacceptance come at various points in life, not just in grade school, but regardless, I wanted to tell you all of this for a few reasons. One of those reasons is that doing things to please Jesus is usually not the popular answer, not what our society today calls 'fun,' not what is going to make you more friends than you can count. It does not mean you will have no friends, and will not be fun or have fun, but my point is that when we strive to do what is right by Jesus's standards, the devil will try to find weaknesses in us in order to tempt us from God's light.

I began writing tonight with a different idea in mind, but as I consider my week so far, I pivoted for the sole reason that I want to address how to handle the devil. I usually try to keep my articles light and positive, while still addressing very human and (hopefully) relatable emotions and experiences, that can help us navigate life together and learn from the world around us and God who loves us. However, I would be remiss if I did not recognize that the devil and his demons are among us, after us, and trying to intimidate us. Therefore, I want to approach this article with the strength of a child of God and the awareness of a believer in Christ.

It is not a news flash to any of us that life is difficult, highs are often followed by lows, and we encounter challenges, stresses, hurdles, and setbacks in every single area of our lives. I talked a little bit about the mindset that I learned when I was a child, and still carry with me today, juxtaposed by the ways that this strength was reframed to me as a weakness by people that, at the time, carried more weight in my life than they probably should have. I did this for a reason; I wanted to give this as an example as to how the devil often tries to use the people around us, the places we find ourselves in, and the very human desire to fit in, to make us feel as though doing what is right, seeking approval from God, and doing our best are not worth it. Wanting to do the right thing is usually a good enough reason for the devil to try and snuff out our spark, and he will use every avenue he can to do so. Taylor Swift sang "people throw rocks at things that shine," and she was right. When the devil encounters the joy of the Lord, the power of faith in Christ, and the determination to live for God, he gets uncomfortable, and begins thinking of ways to put chinks in our armor. We are told in 1 Peter 5:8 to "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Satan and his demons creep around the world in order to plant seeds of doubt, tempt us with shiny, but empty, promises, and to prevent us from going to God.

Before I dive any further, I want us to really consider who the devil needs to target. It becomes apparent that the people the devil tries to attack are those who are doing something right. He is bullying people who are doing God's work, making it harder for us to make a change in the world. He has no need to try to tempt or intimidate someone who has already left the word of the Lord, but instead the devil is working on the ones who are growing in their faith, who are hungry to do the work of the Lord, who are giving Him glory. It can be intimidating, right? I have seen one of Satan's demons, and I do not care to have one of them following me around, putting doubt into my mind, and creating havoc in my life with fear. I am sure that you feel the same. Satan uses many different methods to try to stop us in our growth, and it can be challenging to navigate and recognize when he does so. Understanding that the devil and his workers are around us is part of the battle. Another part of the battle is to understand why he is attacking us and how we can abandon our fear of him and his attacks.

With that being said, Ephesians 6:11 tells us to "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." This simple command tells us exactly how to resist the devil. With God on our side, Satan is powerless over us. Jesus has already defeated the devil, and therefore when we find ourselves fighting against him or his demons, we have the reassurance that God will protect us from Satan and that Satan will not be able to conquer us when we keep our eyes on the Lord. In this way, when we encounter attempts from Satan to frighten us, to paralyze our growing faith, we can "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Knowing that Christ destroys the devil and his evil ways, every single time, can encourage us to stand firm in our faith in order to command him away from us. When we stop letting Satan intimidate us, we can use the power of the Lord to vanquish his evil and command him to flee from our minds and hearts.

I told you that this week was a challenging one when it came to Satan. It took me a few nightmares, along with a few other indicators during the week, until I recognized that the devil was attacking. I was so stunned once I realized that he was trying to destroy my happiness, make me feel helpless, and ruin my days, all paralyzing my ability to give glory to God. At first I was scared and unsure as to why I was his target, but after the second straight night of debilitating nightmares, I became angry. I refuse to be paralyzed by Satan. I told Clay and my mom about it and they both responded, telling me I must be doing something right. It feels backwards, doesn't it? However, just as I explained earlier, the more work we do for God, the more uncomfortable Satan becomes, the stronger his attacks are. In this way, we have the ability to use the attempts of Satan in order to inspire us to not only command him to the light of Christ, but also to work harder to do whatever it is that is frustrating the devil so much. As soon as I woke up from the most recent nightmare, I began praying, began telling the devil that he has no power over me. Isaiah 35:4 reminds us to “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” I love this verse when considering how we might be intimidated by the devil when we try to do the right thing, when we try to live for Christ; it is directly squelching any resistance we may have and reassuring us that God will never let us be destroyed by the devil. When we trust in that faith, we are filled with peace, and can therefore abandon our anxiousness when we are experiencing a demon's presence in our lives.

We should never hesitate from doing what is right for fear of how the devil might try to attack us. In fact, that is why I wrote this article. We should run towards doing what is right, trying our best to please God, and any chance we have to grow in our faith. We are called to do work for God, to share His love and His glory with others to bring them to Him. The devil's attacks are entirely fruitless when we can recognize the power of God. We are told in Psalm 27:1 that "The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?" When we have faith in Jesus, we have nothing to fear, including the devil. Satan's attempts can often shake us up, but when we can recognize what he is doing, we can then understand that we must be doing something worthy of Satan's discomfort, and therefore we are doing something right in the eyes of the Lord. I do not want anyone who finds the freedom of the Lord to be intimidated by Satan and his team, for when we go to God in these moments of turmoil, we will find peace. Ephesians 6:16 tells us "In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one." No matter how hard the devil tries to render us useless for God's work, we can destroy the devil's intimidation tactics and use them as encouragement to work harder, to do our best, and to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Yes, the devil will attack us when we are seeking growth and seeking God, but this does not mean that he will win, that he will wreak havoc, that he will succeed. The attacks simply confirm that in some way, we are changing the world for the better, that we are growing in our faith, and that we are doing something right. In this way, Satan's attempts are nothing but inspiration for us to stand firm in our faith, remind us to put on the armor of God, and to reside in Christ's light, for God's light will always protect us, strengthen us, and destroy the darkness of the devil.