On most Tuesday mornings I gather with a small group of like-minded guys to open the Bible and see what it has to say to us. One of the guys in the group is Steve. He is a tall, skinny southern boy from a town outside Shreveport, Louisiana.
The devil ain’t gonna steal your weedeater
Before retiring Steve was a salesman, selling specialized pipe to oil drillers. He is fond of saying, “What do I know. I’m just a pipe salesman.” His southern insight is often spiced with more than Cajun seasonings. One of his plainly spoken, profound statements, uttered in his native Louisiana drawl, is “The devil ain’t gonna steal your weedeater.”
Does the enemy target the little things in life?
His point is that we have an enemy, and that enemy doesn’t want the little things in our life. He wants the big things. John 10:10 says that “the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy…” and that’s what our enemy does. He wants to steal, kill, or destroy anything in our lives that reminds him of God. Anything that reflects Christ is a target.
The enemy will co-opt our joy and peace, our sense of righteousness in Christ, and our willingness to extend mercy and grace to others. He will try to crush our hope, and convince us that we are not loved, or that we are not worth the immense sacrifice that Jesus made. He puts a magnifying glass on our shame and guilt, attempting to persuade us that we are unredeemable. All this he pursues to blunt our witness, and diminish the work of God in ourselves, others, and this world.
Put on the Whole Armor of God
Paul exhorts his Ephesian friends to “put on the whole armor of God” in order to withstand the attacks of the enemy. He describes many of the works of the Holy Spirit in our lives—truth, righteousness, faith, and salvation, along with the Word of God and the gospel, as effective counters.
Separately, he directs the Philippian church to not be anxious, but in grateful prayer bring their concerns to their Heavenly Father. Hebrews adds that we have the privilege of approaching the Father, even boldly, and that he is always available.
Who accuses us?
My favorite response here also comes from Paul. At the end of Romans 8, he triumphantly lays out several rhetorical questions. In today’s idiom, we would say that he is “talking smack,” or “throwing down.” He asks, one by one: “Who accuses us?” Who condemns us?” and “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” And one by one he answers.
No accusation can stick because it is God who justifies. We are not condemned because Christ died to take away our condemnation. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, including death, life, today’s craziness, the future, or the “principalities and powers” that he referenced in Ephesians. Christ has come to give us life, and nothing can snatch us from His hand (John 10:28).
But that’s not the end. All this has been done for us, but we are still responsible to “work out our salvation…” (Paul again, in Philippians 2). 1 Peter 5 tells us that our enemy is like a “prowling lion” looking for whom he can devour, and calls us to be alert, well balanced and self-disciplined. Remember, the devil ain’t gonna steal your weedeater!
Because of Him, #HopePrevails!
Scott Bengtson
Breaking Anxiety’s Grip
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Thank you, Scott, for this message! I think sometimes we forget how the enemy wants to steal, kill and destroy. He isn’t out to just make our life miserable, he is out to kill us and destroy anything of God from our lives. I, for one, will fight and fight hard using the Word of God! Your message encourages me and gets my eyes back on the TRUTH and I plan to keep my focus on the Lord. Love and blessings to you and Michelle! Praying fervently for you both and the family! Oh, I have Michelle’s new book pre-ordered!!
Karen, you encourage me every day to fight the good fight. The enemy is not going to win on my watch.
Thanks for sharing this important article on how the enemy targets the little things in my life. It is so true and I deal with it all the time. Thank you for encouraging me today with God’s Word.
I pray daily for you, Michelle, Bryce and Blake. You are all so very precious to me and to Jesus. Michelle encourages me every day with her Facebook posts as she is on her sacred journey. God is using her to touch so many lives. Continuing to pray for her healing.
It is a joy to make Gingersnaps for you occasionally and so glad you enjoy them! Time for another batch soon!
Have a blessed day in the Lord. Blessings and much love to you and your precious family.
Love in Christ,
Donna
Glad you enjoyed this post by Scott today, Donna. It’s definitely food for thought. So appreciate you, your prayers, and your sweet care packages.
So true, but I can see satan stealing something small (like where are my favorite salad tongs?!?) and using it to steal my joy, etc and taking my mind off Christ and my life off course. Great post (what a team you are!)
Thank you! We have had 4 months of nonstop problems, some big, some small but they’re still coming. Just have to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and wear our armor! God Bless.
So true that we need to stay close to the armor God provides–and to be mindful that we DO have an enemy who longs to derail us.