Recognize the Enemy

Hi friends! I am taking a quick breather from creating new material on Wednesdays as I prep for an upcoming conference and lay some foundational leadership work with a one of my local organizations. I was digging through the archives and found this post worthy of a re-share. I pray you enjoy it! Thanks for the grace.

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There are few things more awkward in this world than not recognizing someone… especially when they seem to know you so well.

We’ve all be there. We are walking through the grocery store or exploring the county fair, when suddenly, from across the way, someone waves enthusiastically and shouts our name.

We glance at them and… Nothing. “Who the heck is that?” We wonder. We respond, pseudo-confidently. “Um, oh hey… YOU…”

Maybe it’s a former co-worker, or a church member, or a high school classmate. Regardless, we feel awkward. And taken by surprise.

The same thing happens in our daily lives when it comes to recognizing our enemy– that’s right, the evil one, Satan. (You might know him from my references here at 7 Days Time as that “Big stupid jerkface.”)

Recognizing the enemy of our soul takes a lot of practice… but the more in tune we are with God, the easier it becomes.

John 10:10 reminds us that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” So when things are, um, hitting the fan, it might be time to take a good look at who is causing that, so you aren’t caught awkward, uncomfortable or even hurt by our enemy’s advances.

Let me give you a real-life example. Several weeks ago on a Sunday, I woke up in a MOOD. All you ladies know what I mean. (And all you dudes probably do too. YIKES.) I was just… funky. We were still living in a hotel waiting for our house on post to become available, so things weren’t ideal. I was extra short and snappy with my husband, and I could feel the non-typical anger and frustration rising… For no reason at all.

We headed to church… And got lost on the way. We had been there before, but were still new to the area. Weirdly enough, our GPS led us in the completely wrong direction and even though my internal compass was flashing the warning light, I wasn’t sure enough with my directions to contribute anything productive. (There’s apparently a huge difference between 23rd Street SE and 23rd Street SW. SIGH.)

So, we were 20 minutes late to church, the baby was crying, I was furious at my husband (although this wasn’t fault) and I wanted nothing more than to say “Screw this!” (pardon my French) and head back to the hotel. Suddenly, I realized… This was NOT our doing. The enemy was hard at work trying to jack up our Sunday and keep us from setting down roots in our new church home. He wanted to ruined a precious day of family time and keep us mad at each other… Kill, steal, destroy. HELLO. Before I could say anything, my husband piped up and said “I think we need to pray. The enemy has ahold of our hearts right now.”

We prayed and boom. Our Sunday was saved. We recognized the enemy (before it was too late,) invited God into our situation and He gave us the weapons of warfare we needed to immediately stop his evil advances.

This is a discipline that takes lots and lots of practice. Sometimes, we still miss it and we get in deep before we stop and say, “Hey, wait a minute… Something isn’t right…” And right there, we recognize that the enemy is all up in our Kool-aid wreaking havoc on our hearts.

Do you recognize the enemy when he’s at work? What can we do to make that recognition quicker/stronger so that we can reduce that big dumb jerkface’s power over us? In what situation do you need to be extra alert? I would love to hear feedback… Comment below.

Take heart, dear friends. Yes, we live in a fallen world. Yes, we live in a world where we aren’t ALWAYS going to recognize that old classmate or co-worker. But when it comes to recognizing Satan’s work, we can stand close to Jesus. He will not only help us realize when we are under attack, but also give us daily victories over the enemy.

Because let’s be honest… the more we recognize Christ in our daily lives, the quicker we can recognize (and defeat!) the evil one. And really, there’s no one else I would rather have on my team than Jesus.

We best recognize,

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” ~Romans 8:31 NIV

Linking up today with my friend Kristin over at Three-word Wednesday and having a little Coffee for your Heart with Holley. Oh! And be sure to join our #EverydayJesus link-up community right here at 7 Days Time every Thursday!