“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12
Ross Perot once said, “If you see a snake, just kill it—don’t appoint a committee on snakes.” I know, I know, snakes are God’s creation but for some of us the only good snake is a dead snake. I am one of those. I was reading a devotion this week and it told a story about a South American missionary. I don’t know if it is true or not—but it sure teaches us a good lesson about us and the devil. So it seems the missionary woke up one morning to find a giant anaconda snake in his little house. Now this was no ordinary snake. This dude was over 25 feet long and there he was right there in his house—curled up—apparently taking a nap.
Well, as you can imagine it scared him to death. He quietly climbed out the window and went and told all his villager friends, “Come and help me!” So they went back to the house with him and looked through the window. Sure enough, there it was. They were discussing what to do when one of villagers finally said, “I know what to do.” He ran back to his house, grabbed his rifle, stuck it through the window, and pulled the trigger. BLAM! His aim was perfect and he shot the giant snake right in the head. But that wasn’t quite the end of the story.
The snake, rather than going quietly like a good boy, started thrashing around literally tearing the inside of the house apart. The villagers ran to a safe distance and stood there in disbelief as they heard sounds of crashing and destruction coming from the house. Then, slowly the sounds became softer and slower and finally—there was silence. When they finally had the courage to go inside the house, they saw that the snake lying still on the floor but they also saw the incredible damage and chaos that the snake had caused as he gave up the ghost.
If you are like me there are two things in this story that are very important. First, sorry, but the only good snake is a dead snake. Second, even though the snake had a mortal wound to the head, he still managed to cause a lot of damage. Now I know and you know that the Bible says that Satan, the great serpent, is defeated. But wait, you might be saying something must be wrong at my house—because Satan seems to be wreaking havoc in my life, in my relationships, and with sin struggles and all that kind of stuff.”
Well, the truth is we live in a season when the evil one has received a mortal wound to the head—Jesus took care of that on the cross and with His resurrection. The devil’s final defeat is real and soon enough—and it will be permanent. In the meantime, our struggle with spiritual evil will continue as Satan attempts to thrash around in our lives. We need to know and believe, though, that not only is he defeated—we are truly victorious. Satan can have no more victory than we choose to give him.
We would be wise to take Paul’s counsel. In Ephesians 6:10-12, he writes, “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Though wounded mortally, he is a thrashing, dying foe. He stills wants to mess up our lives and cause as much destruction as he can—but he can’t win—dead, dying and defeated snakes can never win.
So, if it seems the great serpent is messing with your life—just remember his fate is sealed. Jesus took care of him a long time ago. We can rest in knowing that no matter what, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 