“When he (the devil) speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44b KJV)
This Saturday morning, stop what you are doing, just for a second or two, and really tune into what you are about to read. It is about fighting the five senses that we have as human beings: vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. You may be asking, “Why do we have to fight them?”
Here is why? Satan will use the stimuli produced by your senses, to reflect back in your past that which you have stored in your mind over your lifetime. Now listen! Satan is cunning, and he does not focus on situations in your past that brought you elation and energized you. No! He will use those specific spots on your historic journey where the circumstances were neither positive nor pleasant, and he will use what your senses communicated to you, in an effort to conquer you for a time.
Here are two examples. I was driving home one day from the other side of town. I decided to go by the neighborhood that we lived in when times were tough. Economically, we were not that well off. Our home was a shotgun home with one small bathroom. At times we had no water, no heat, and no phone. When I passed through the old neighborhood, I became slightly depressed, down, saddened. I’ll get back to this in a minute.
Here is the other example. I was sitting at the dinner table two nights ago. By choice and diet plans, my wife and myself, we had one bone-in pork chop each and a serving of spaghetti with no sauce. It reminded me of the times when we ate family meals as a kid. Seconds was not often an option. At the dinner table my smile was sunk, and my face was sullen looking. What I had sensed decades ago took over my state of mind for a short time.
In both those examples, I did not fight Satan’s work to bring me down like I should have done. I should have fought what my senses had stored in my mind, senses that the devil was now using to deflate my state of mind. I should have fought the good fight! How so? I should have fought by thinking about the fact that in spite of our circumstances, the Lord saw us through to a brighter day. I should have thought how he sustained us through hard times. I should have fought my brief feeling of depression with expressions of gratefulness for what the Lord had done to keep us, and how He has kept on blessing us. Yes, I should have been uplifted by the fact that the Lord brought us through hard times, even though my senses and Satan were joining forces to not let me see the truth of the matter, that the Lord is my Shepherd, that the Lord is my Keeper, that the Lord is my Provider, and so much more.
My friend, you will have times where a smell will cause you to remember heartaches, a taste of food on a day you just did with what you had, or you will experience the touch of a living loved one that makes you miss the days when your parents were always there to care of you, but now they are at home with the Lord. Oh, that is not all that can happen. Satan can use any of the stored-up memories and the associated senses that were operating at that time in the past to bring you down in the present. Fight the five! Don’t let him win! Fight on! Think of the positive! Think of God’s goodness to you! Think of the fact that your good days outweigh your bad days! That’s more than lyrics from a song. Be blessed!
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (I Peter 5:8 NASB)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King