Day 5: If I Were Your Enemy

If I were your enemy, this is what I would do: make you believe you were helpless against your spiraling thoughts. Make you believe you were insignificant. Make you believe that God wants your good behavior more than your freedom for your mind.

But now you're wise to this. You were in the Word and on your knees, choosing and fighting and looking towards Jesus and the mind of Christ. God is moving through you, and you are getting dangerous. You are free and leading other people to freedom. The old lies are no longer adequate.

So if I were your enemy, I would make you numb and distract you from God's story. I would draw your attention with technology, social media, Netflix, travel, food and wine, Comfort, and noise. I would not tempt you with notably bad things, or you would get suspicious. Instead I would distract you with every day comforts to make you forget God. Then you would start to love distraction and complacency more than peace and service and loving others.

If that didn't work, I would attack your identity. I would make you believe you had to prove yourself. Then you would focus on yourself instead of God. Friends would become enemies. Teammates would become competition. You would isolate yourself and think you are not enough. You would get depressed and be ungrateful for your story. Or you would compare and believe you are better than others. You would become cynical and condemn others rather than love and invite them in. Either way you would lose your joy, because your eyes would be fixed on yourself and people instead of on Jesus.

And if that didn't work, I would intoxicate you with the mission of God rather than God himself. You would worship a cause instead of Jesus. You would fight against others to have the most important roles. You would burn out from striving. You would think that success is measured by results you see. Then all your time and effort would be spent on maintaining self-importance rather than knowing Jesus and loving people.

And if that didn't work, I would make you suffer. Then maybe you would think God is evil rather than good. Your faith would shrink, and your fear and anxiety would grow. You would get bitter and weary and tired, spiraling into victimhood rather than flourishing and growing and becoming more like Christ.

The enemy is telling you that those downward spirals are just the way things are. But we have the power to shut them down through Jesus – through His power, His victory, His truth, and His mind. Remember, we have a choice to change what we set our minds on.

Prayer: Jesus, give me strength today as I say to the enemy, “No more. I choose quiet, service, wonder, and connection. I choose humility, gratefulness, and trust. I choose my Jesus.” Amen.