The dirtiest fighter of all

Then Moses turned to the LORD again and said ‘Lord, why do you mistreat your people? Why did you send me here? Ever since I went to the king to speak for you, he has treated them cruelly. And you have done nothing to help them!’

Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you are going to see what I will do to the king. I will force him to let my people go. In fact, I will force him to drive them out of his land.’
(verses 5:22 – 6:1)

Read Exodus 5:1 – 6:1

Satan doesn’t give in easily. His power has been totally destroyed on the cross and yet he continues to con us into believing he is alive, well, and winning.

Jesus made it clear that following him wouldn’t be a bed of roses. But at the same time he gave us a number of watertight guarantees: we are saved; we have eternal life; victory over Satan has been achieved; God will never let go of us.

How often, however, do we act like Moses and the Israelites? We know, as they did, that the battle isn’t easy. We know, as they did, that the almighty God will triumph. And yet at the first setback, they turned on God. They accused him of making things worse. They implied that they would be better off as they were.

It’s true that the closer we are to God the harder the time that Satan gives us. He’d love us to believe that we’d be better off out of the battle. But, like Pharaoh, he has no intention of making things good if we knuckle under and let him win.

The battle will be tough. If we let Satan con us, he still has a hope. But if we trust God and the power of his word, ‘One little word can fell him’.

Father, I know you have won. Help me to believe it, and help me to use your word to overcome Satan’s tricks. Amen.

by Robert Turnbull, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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