After a sudden and absurd onset of completely unnecessary road rage that was directed at me Thursday afternoon, I realized how important it is to remain on guard against Satan’s endeavor to rob us blind when we least expect it. The incident left me feeling angry, defeated, judgmental against mankind, and sorry for myself – after a beautiful Bible study session, no less. I sat there in my kitchen crying at my reflection in the window, wondering how someone could be so cruel to me when I am in such a fragile state. I wondered why I was in this “stupid situation” to begin with, which has me so on edge and so overly-sensitive. “If they only knew…,” I thought. I tried asking God for help, but I think He was just waiting for me to get proper perspective on it before He instantly dried my tears. It was exactly then that I got a text message from one of my sweet Bible study friends, simply asking me when my due date was. Funny, I had just thought of her, and how I’d like to talk to her, and there she was texting me. After answering her question, I texted back that I really needed prayer right now and went on to explain the situation. I ended up on the phone with her as she prayed over me and calmed me down. God definitely used her yesterday afternoon to minister to me. Later that evening she sent a text to check on me that read, “I was thinking that satan really wanted to do a number on you through that guy and distract you from this morning’s message – call it for what it is and claim victory over satan’s attempt to bring you down and feel discouraged!! There is a huge spiritual warfare going on right now.” After she pointed this out to me, it was so blatantly obvious that I can’t believe I didn’t recognize it!!
“Some people are like seed along the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” – Mark 4:15 NIV
It wasn’t even a covert breeze that came along, blustering away everything I KNEW to be true. It was a brazen and malevolent heist of joy that had just been sown in me at Bible study. I can recognize it for what it is in hindsight, but how better off I’d have been to have known it in the moment. I definitely would not have responded back with the same hatred that I was being impaled with.
“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” – Mark 4:20 NIV
So maybe the quality of my soil isn’t quite everything I thought it was, especially right now. All the more reason to take special care and to be on guard in these fragile times. Satan has no sympathy for anyone!
“His children are far from safety,
crushed in court without a defender. The hungry consume his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth. For hardship does not spring from the soil,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward. “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted. He provides rain for the earth;
he sends water on the countryside. The lowly he sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He thwarts the plans of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are swept away. Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;
at noon they grope as in the night. He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;
he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth. “Blessed is the one whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.” – Job 5:4-17 NIV
iwillcarryyou 
“I was thinking that satan really wanted to do a number on you through that guy and distract you from this morning’s message – call it for what it is and claim victory over satan’s attempt to bring you down and feel discouraged!! There is a huge spiritual warfare going on right now.”
Funny, a few of my closest friends and I have been being made aware of this very thing lately, just how very prevalent and intense that the spiritual warfare we are all in every single day is. I too have been getting caught ‘off guard’ lately and was just discussing this with my son last night who later on the evening asked me what sober and vigilant meant after he heard me quote that verse to my friend on the phone.
After spending the past 5 yrs as a single mom (something I definitely never wanted to be) and struggling to just try to survive every day, I have been hit this past year with blow after blow after blow again with things that are completely out of my control and it has been far more of a challenge than even the first year of my divorce. I say all of that to say that we do have this sense of ‘it will surely let up sometime’ or get surprised when satan attacks us yet again and again when we are already so down and vulnerable.
I JUST read the other day a post somewhere about that very thing – that he has NO sympathy, no good, no compassion, period. He is everything evil we could ever imagine and he will stop at nothing to try and destroy any good anywhere. He certainly seems to be on more of a rampage now than I’ve ever noticed before and I have been soberly reminded time and again lately that I need to be suiting up in that armor like never before and battling on my knees and with the Sword of the Spirit like never before.
Sorry you got caught in those crosshairs the other day with this. I do know how that feels and it can certainly shake you to your core before you know it.
BUT – thank GOD for sweet godly friends who listen to their prompts and help to pick us back up and hold us there when we don’t have our own strength to do so. Such tangible proof that He truly is with us always and that He does His best work on this earth through us being His hands and feet.
Praying for you all at this very moment. God bless.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV)
Full body armor. Starting with the feet, which stand on Holy ground; there is only one sure foundation, that is the Word of God. Next, the belt of truth, it is about the central part of us; one of two parts of armor that wraps completely around us, the other the helmet of salvation. These are a reminder that we are to live tightly within the Word of God, for the belt surrounds us. The Sword of the Spirit, again referring to the Word of God. The Sword of the Spirit IS the Word of God. It is not a coincidence, Jesus when confronted by the devil, repeatedly said, IT IS WRITTEN! The sword is placed in your right hand. The Shield of Faith is in your left hand, we are on the right hand of Jesus Christ, and that puts Jesus on our left, our faith is in Him, in battle and in life. The Breastplate of Righteousness, the covering of the most vital part of us, the breast contains the heart of flesh God put within us. This heart of flesh is different than the heart of stone God removed, for God wrote His Laws upon it. Again, here is The Word of God. The Breatplate of Righteousness protects the heart and allows the RIGHTEOUSNESS of GOD to shine into the darkness of the unseen world around us. The Helmet of Salvation, protecting our head, where our thoughts are. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—THINK about such things.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV). The Helmet of Salvation is necessary to protect those thoughts and to prevent our minds from being struck by a damaging wound from the darkness of this world.
We MUST TAKE THE ARMOR ON, we are told by the Word of God. Just as a soldier puts on armor to fight in war, we must do e same each day. Our battle is not against our fellow people who Jesus Christ died for, it is against the darkness of this world, and it is the unseen we battle against! Flesh and blood cannot see this Armor we put on, but Satan and the forces of evil can. The blood of Jesus is covering you and the devil wants to destroy the life that is in you. Evil sees the Blood, and without the Armor of God, you may be mortally wounded! DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!
I modified this, but it is originally written by Eric Fein and was given to me at Bible Study at GCOG. Powerful stuff.
Everytime I read your blog I cry until I sob….I know you probably don’t even remember me but your strength speaks to me and everyone else that shares in your trials and tribulations….You are so brave through all of this and everything you and your family have been through….don’t laugh here but if I had to choose a hero from this world….it would be you……God Bless You, Sarah and Your Family…..