One Minute Apologist - Doubting Toward FaithSýnishorn

I once heard an eerie story about a lady who became concerned for her pet snake. Pet and snake are two words that should never be used together. I hate snakes. If you think Indiana Jones loathed them, I do even more. Anyway, we’re not talking about a dinky garter snake. No, it was a big, long python. And why was she so disturbed? Apparently, the poor snake wasn’t eating, so she sought out her veterinarian for a little advice.

“By any chance does your snake sleep with you?” the vet asked. “Funny you should ask,” the lady said. “Yes, my snake does sleep with me.” (Are you believing this?)

“The reason your snake doesn’t eat,” her veterinarian said, “is because it’s sizing you up as it purposely starves itself, waiting for the opportune moment to consume you.”

Talk about sleeping with the enemy.

Whether this story is really true or not, like that snake, Satan also studies us and knows us better than we know ourselves. He wants nothing more than to consume us and our faith.

As Christians we are in the midst of a war, a spiritual war. And this war can be tricky to detect. That’s because it’s a war that takes place in an unseen world. The apostle Paul wrote, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

That means we must treat our doubts as frontline attacks from the enemy. Far from the caricatures of Satan that look like Gene Simmons dressed up in a red suit and holding a pitchfork, Satan and his demonic host are powerful spirit beings. They deceptively align around a common goal: to destroy our faith. I can’t stress this enough. The Evil One wants to stretch our doubts until at last they snap, resulting in unbelief.

Reflection

Pray for the Holy Spirit to protect you from the doubts of the evil one, Satan. Pray for strength to overcome the schemes of the devil.