If you’ve been under attack from the enemy, get ready for something great!
Satan attacks to discourage you. He may hit you with sickness or disease, or he could attack those you love, admire, and respect. He wants you to look at circumstances and doubt God’s Word. So, if you’ve felt like you’ve been under attack, rejoice. That means you’re a threat to the enemy!
Don’t Get Offended
You will come out of every attack victoriously if you don’t allow yourself to get offended while you’re in the battle. Jesus talked about this in the parable of the sower. Mark 4:16-17 says: and these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. Let’s break down what Jesus was telling us in Mark 4:16-17.
Affliction is pressure from situations. Persecution is pressure from people.
The word offended is skandalizo in Greek. It means to trip up, stumble, be enticed to sin, enter apostacy. One who gets into apostacy is someone who abandons or renounces their belief. They become displeased with truths they used to hold dear. Apostacy can cause you to offend others. I’ve seen it happen. People who once believed God encountered challenges in life they didn’t expect, so they got offended at God! “Why did God let this happen?” they ask. Then they drift away or walk away from faith in Jesus Christ and God’s Word.
Satan is After the Power in You
Jesus said affliction and persecution come for the Word’s sake. Satan wants to steal the Word of God from your heart. The devil doesn’t know everything, and he can’t create anything, but he understands the power of God’s Word. Sadly, the devil knows God’s Word better than many Christians do. He knows Romans 1:16 says the Word of God is the power [dunamis-supernatural ability] of God!When the power of God is living and active in you, the devil cannot win. He can make a lot of noise and show and talk big, but the supernatural power of God in His Word always wins- if you persevere. Never stop standing of God’s Word! Regardless of the trouble, tribulation, or challenge, answer every attack by quoting God’s Word, as Jesus did in the wilderness: It is written. The more Satan goes after the power of God’s Word in you, the more you should hold and wield that sword of the Spirit! Don’t let it go!
Remember, it’s a Light Affliction
The parable of the sower talks about affliction and persecution, and so did the Apostle Paul, who endured much of both. He wrote:
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:13-18)
The answer to the enemy’s attacks is to believe and speak faith. Don’t focus on the natural situation, but look at the spiritual solution. And remember, this too shall pass.