The Patience Of Satan

September 20, 2017 | By Chuck

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (II Cor.4:4) The "god of this age" is Satan, the Devil, and he does all he can to blind as many as possible to the light of the gospel. We are aware of the spiritual war that we're all involved in with Satan. (Eph.6:12) Satan will masquerade himself as an angel of light (II Cor.11:14) and use his many schemes to outwit us. (II Cor.2:11) We are in the midst of the fight of our lives as Satan tries to lead us away from God and destroy us spiritually. Satan will not give up on us as he desperately wants you and I in hell with him for eternity. You know about the battle for your soul. You're aware of Satan's schemes and trickery. But, are you aware of Satan's patience? I tend to believe that Satan is patient waiting for just the right time to attack you and me with a temptation. "After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." (Mt.4:2-3) Forty days without food and the first temptation Satan throws at Jesus is about turning stones into bread. Satan's plan and careful patience to wait until Jesus was vulnerable to strike, failed, because Jesus never sinned. (Heb.4:15) What I want you to notice is how Satan was patient and waited to attack Jesus when He was weak and vulnerable from His forty day fast. I believe one of Satan's greatest schemes and tricks is his ability to lay off of us for a while. What I mean is Satan strategically gives us a break from his temptations once in a while. That break can lull us into thinking we are doing really well spiritually and cause us to let our guard down which makes us vulnerable to Satan's attacks. I can't help but believe that's all part of Satan's plan. He wants us to feel so strong spiritually that we'll not be so aware or conscientious of his attacks and therefore, vulnerable. So, when you are on a spiritual high, enjoy it and ride it out as long as you can, all the while keeping in mind that Satan is patiently plotting and planning his next attack. "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." (Eph.6:10-11)