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Do you ever have one of those days when you clearly feel like the devil has launched an all-out attack against you?  Whether it be full-blown warfare, or just a little poking, he never ceases to try to trip us up. He is always “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

I recently had “one of those days”, and I really felt like the devil was just poking me and poking me, trying to get me to say something wrong, or to generally react badly.

It was minor stuff, really. A trip to the license branch that was especially frustrating (poke). A Facebook “friend” who publicly attacked my conservative views, again (poke).  An impatient driver who did not appreciate my decision to wait for an appropriate moment to pull out into traffic, and who sat behind me revving his engine and squealing his tires until I was finally able to safely pull out (poke).  These are just a few of the things that added up to “one of THOSE days”.

Poke. Poke. Poke.  The devil would have loved it if I had given in to my sinful human nature and yelled at the clerk at the license branch because the person on the phone gave me wrong information.  He would have been elated if I had ranted on Facebook and told my “friend” off.  And he certainly would have been tickled pink if I had gestured inappropriately at the car behind me. Thankfully,I didn’t do any of those things.  Instead, I took a deep breath, and recognized it for what I believe it was, Satan trying to push me over the edge.

I managed to keep my cool, but I will be honest, I was struggling.  But do you know what happened? When I had to return to the license branch later that day, that clerk apologized over and over.  My real friends on Facebook rallied around me and supported me with “likes” and comments.  And that guy in the car behind me?  He eventually backed off and didn’t give me any other problems! Do you know what else happened?  I felt surrounded by God, and that feeling that I was being poked, poked, poked just vanished.  It reminded me of the story of Elisha and his servant:

“And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots.  And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master!  how shall we do?  And he answered, ‘Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.’ And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.’ And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

~ II Kings 6:15-17

How often I have wished that God would ‘open my eyes’ so that I could see the army of angels surrounding me and my loved ones in times of need!  That day’s trials may have seemed trivial, but losing my temper and harming my Christian witness to those who were around me would be no small thing.  God is just as faithful in the small things as He is in the big things.  Just when I needed some encouragement, He reminded me of the passage about Elisha.

Now I have the chance to use this passage to remind those of you who are going through trials right now that you are surrounded by God’s army.  No matter how big, or how (seemingly) small your trials may be; God is there. You do not need to succumb to the fiery darts of the devil.  You are not alone. I think we are often defeated because we think we already are, but “…If God be for us, who can be against us?” ~ Romans 8:31b

 

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