Remember the Church Lady segment from Saturday Night Live? That was one of the catch phrases for that character. But lately I’ve been thinking about this in a different light. You know how they say whenever a church is doing things right, Satan comes in to try and destroy it. Well I think that works for people too. I have seen this first hand and lately in the lives of my friends. I will give you a personal example from my life that all happened over a three month period a year and a half ago.
It all started with a broken tooth. This broken tooth led to a crown, which led to having to have a root canal on that tooth before the crown could be finished. Then during this time I had the shingles – fun stuff. Shortly after recovering from these two wonderful things, I broke my little toe. Let me tell you just because it’s the little toe, there’s nothing little about the pain. Then my a/c compressor went out and I had to replace the a/c unit at my house. All of this was over a two month period. Once the next month started I just knew things would get better, I had a vacation scheduled and I was looking forward to working around the house. Well during that vacation I had the worst case of the stomach flu I have had since I was in High School. Needless to say these three months were costly – monetarily, days missed at work, and pain wise.
Now, I know you are asking what does this have to do with Satan. Well here it goes. I believe that all these things at once were a form of attack by Satan. Why? Because I had been living for God. Over the last three years I have completely given my life back to God, in ways I never did before. Oh I have been a Christian since I was 12 and in church since I was 4 or so, but I will admit that I strayed away from church, not from God, but from the Church for a few years a while back. But even during the years when I was in church and as I have followed God there were things I just kept control of; as I am sure we all have from time to time. But, since I have been back in church I have completely turned over things to God, and believe me I feel so much better for it. I tithe the way I should, I pray more, I worship more and more deeply, I feel His presence more during my day because I’m more aware of it. I am seeking His will instead of my wants in things I do and I find the pressure of things is less. Satan doesn’t like it when we do these things. I think that these months were Satan’s attempt to turn me away from my newfound peace. I will admit I started to waiver a time or two, but then I would pray for strength and God would help me get through it.
Anytime you rely on God, Satan is going to come at you to try and pry you away from your stronghold. Don’t worry; God is there to help you. Just as the song says – He never lets go, through the calm and through the storm, He never lets go of you. I know that there are those going through times right now that seem unbelievably hard: financial, physical, emotional, even spiritual. Hang on. He is there for you. He never leaves us; He is there to uplift us and help us through these times of trial. No matter what they are, He will be there with us to help us carry these burdens. Pray for strength; lean on your fellow Christians. Odds are they have been there before. Satan doesn’t mess with someone who isn’t doing something right for God. But, God will never leave you. He will never let go.
