Don’t you hate dealing with a bully? I was sleeping peacefully, minding my own business, when my eyes popped wide open at 3 a.m. for no apparent reason. When that happens, I typically begin praying for my family, my prayer shield and my friends and somewhere along the way, I fall back to sleep. Not so last night.
I kept having these random bad thoughts….why weren’t my kids getting over their cold? Was it something worse than the common cold? Why was I having so much trouble moving forward on my book? Maybe I’m not called to write. Lately my quiet times haven’t been like they should. I must be a fake and a bad Christian. These thoughts just kept coming. Bizarre things that had no relation to one another would pop into my head.
I guess I was a little slow, because I was groggy from sleep, but I finally recognized the bully for who he was. Satan was trying to steal my sleep and steal my peace [John 14:27].
The only thing worse than an irritated woman is an irritated woman who hasn’t had enough rest. When I finally shook the cobwebs out of my head, I was ready to deal with the bully. 2 Corinthians 10:4 came to mind “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” It was time to send every one of those crazy thoughts to Jesus to deal with and remind Satan who he was dealing with and how he didn’t stand a chance. Just as Jesus did in Matthew 4, I used the Word as my weapon of defense. I didn’t have to fight. I just had to remind him of who my Daddy was and what He would do for me. 1 Samuel 17:47b tells us “…for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.” Somewhere in the midst of reminding Satan of who I am in Christ Jesus and that my children are also His, I fell back to sleep.
Satan is no different than the playground bully. He is really scared and insecure, so he tries to puff himself up by hurling lies and insults at others. All we have to do to deal with him is remind him who our Daddy is and watch him back down. Our God is awesome God and no one can stand against Him or His children [Exodus 15:11, Psalm 47:2, Psalm 89:7].
Dive into the Word, my friends, so when the bully comes knocking on your door, you can kick him out before he steps a foot inside.