Satan 1 Peter 5:8,9 be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world.
Luke 4:13 “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an a more opportune time.”
This is the seventh day on this passage. We may spend another week on it. There is so much meat and applicable principles to apply.
We are to be watchful. Another time to be especially alert is when boredom sets in. I have seen this over and over again. You gear up for a huge inspection or exercise. It becomes a 20-22 hour workday over several weeks. Stress is huge and every part of your being is involved. You are challenged mentally, physically, emotionally and become dry spiritually. Then, the paper or project or inspection or exercise or thesis is finally over and done. You have trained yourself to function at a high level for a long period of time. Now, the pressure is off. What do you do with your time and all this pent up energy. Your body is not used to immediately gearing down and resting / sleeping.
With no immediate demands on your time, boredom can set in. At this moment, Satan can strike. It is an opportune time. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop’. In our efforts to ‘wind down’, Satan can offer very tempting scenarios. At these times in my life, I have been very vulnerable.
In ministering to graduate school students for the past 20 plus years, there are two times that are particularly vulnerable for them. The first is the 2-3 weeks before final exams and projects are do. There is a LOT of stress. Many of these men learned at an early age to turn to porn as a means of stress relief. The other time of extreme vulnerability is the week or two AFTER finals are over. It is the let down after all the pressure of finals.
2 Cor 2:11 says, “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” We are also not to be ignorant of the projected TIMING of his attacks. Remember, Satan left ‘until a more opportune time’. Study the pattern of your failures. See if they line up with extreme times of stress or boredom, or being alone or when you are not sober. We must conduct our warfare with wisdom.
I pray for wisdom for you. I pray that you would be an excellent spiritual warrior. Please pray this for me also.
I covet your feedback. Please email me at breehm@comcast.net and tell me your vulnerable times.
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