Schemes

When first discovering who God was, I remember hearing someone say, “God spoke to me.”

This got me wondering if God would ever speak to me?

What will God sound like? If I did hear him, would I be scared? Would I freak out?

Not much longer after questioning this, I heard,“I’ve got plans for you.”

Plans for me? 

This is just my mind talking crazy, right?

Doubt consumed me as I continued to question if that voice I heard was really Him? And that doubt, was an attack from satan. It was a very subtle attack but enough to convince myself I was crazy to think God was going to speak to me directly.

The next attack that came upon me was a bit more extreme. Looking back I guess satan must have known I was “a force to be reckoned with” because he tried a whole new way to attack me.

I call it the “sneak attack”.

This attack came shortly after asking Jesus to take up permanent residence in my heart and was an attack that happened out of nowhere. At a time when things were going good. It was an attack that caused me to fall to my knees and begin to cry out to the Lord.

I remember crying out in much desperation. “Lord please, I need to hear something from you. Anything from you, God, to comfort me. Your voice. A whisper like my friends had described. Some kind of sign of some sort.”

I heard nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Did God already desert me? Am I not good enough to hear from him?

As I thought this, I recognized it was negative and not from God. So in a more desperate measure, I thought I’d try to rebuke satan. After all, I saw that it worked for Elizabeth in “The War Room” so why not give it a try.

Was it crazy that I was going to yell at satan? I began thinking what would I yell out? Oh I know; I’d start by yelling out, “satan you are not welcome here!”

However those words did not come out of my mouth. Instead from my lips I heard a voice. My own voice saying, “God, you are not welcome here.”

My heart about jumped out of chest. I was stopped in my tracks instantly. Scared of what just came out of my mouth. Thinking, “Oh my goodness God! I am so sorry. God, You are welcome here. Please forgive me. How could that come from my mouth, Lord. I love you.”

I was so scared of what I had said, that the next day I confided in two really good friends who were deeply rooted in their faith to find out what all this meant.

Well, what it meant was…

Satan tried to sabotage my hope of holding on to believing God was there. He manipulated my thoughts so that when I heard my own voice utter the words “God you are not welcome here,” he thought for sure I’d believe it.

Yep, those are the schemes he tries.

I’d like to say that satan has stopped his attacks but the truth is he hasn’t. He still continues to try and scheme against me. But, I am beginning to think the joke is on him because that day he put that lie in my mouth, my Father has continued to prepare me, equip me and help me suit up in “The Armor of God” that Paul writes to the Ephesians about.

Ephesians 6: 10-18: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

And, since those attacks I’ve become more aware of the schemes satan attempts and I am able to extinguish the attacks faster since becoming “strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

And so today Lord, I pray that sharing my experience of satan’s attacks opens other’s eyes to see just how sneaky he tries to be. How he tries to derail us from the plan you, Lord, have for us. I ask you, Lord, to place courage and strength in whomever may be reading this and help them to stand firm, put their armor on daily, and pray continuously for whatever battle they may be facing today…. And last Lord I pray that we do not forget the great news — the battle is already won. I praise you and thank you for this, Lord. In your precious name, Jesus, I pray, Amen

by Lindsey Montejo

Lindsey is a stay at home wife, mother and newer follower of Christ. The desire has been placed in her to share her experiences of her growing relationship with God and to let others know that His love is unconditional. You can email her @ quitesimplyLindsey@gmail.com