HOW SATAN OPERATES

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job 2:7-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I rarely write two devotions over a single passage but this one warrants such an occasion. It’s that important.

After Job loses his livestock and children, he refuses to blame God for his misfortunes. Instead, he chooses to praise and bless Him.

Of course, Satan didn’t like this turn of events. He thought for sure that if Job’s perfect life were interrupted by deep hardship, then Job would surely turn on the God who had made his life perfect in the first place.

Now God knew Job would respond properly. Would He wage such a bet against Satan and not know He would win? We know the truth of the matter is that God would always triumph over Satan no matter what. It was true in the days of Job and it’s still true today.

But Satan isn’t one to give up. He may lose the war but he ever tries to win as many battles as he can. And he is able to win because of our human nature, a human nature that too often strays away from our Lord and makes us easy prey for the evil one who by his own admission roams back and forth through the earth, like a hungry lion ready to devour anyone who is unprotected and vulnerable.

Job’s wife was one of those.

For after Satan afflicted Job with horrifically agonizing sores, an act he was sure would lead Job to curse God, he tries to get Job to do what he wants, not directly but rather by using Job’s wife. It was a cunning, deceitful move but then again, Satan is the master of deceit (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10) and scheming (2 Corinthians 2:11). Job’s wife was obviously not as devoted to God as her husband, a flaw that left her open to Satan’s use. And he did use her.

For she asks her husband, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” The woman Job should be able to trust the most, the one who should want her mate to maintain the utmost integrity at all times (What true wife wouldn’t?) now was urging him to drop everything that was upright inside…everything that was faithful to God within…and curse his Master and Maker.

Well, even in the midst of his misery, Job had enough wherewithal because of God’s strength within him to see through the deception and see the request as nothing short of foolish. He says as much as he tells his wife she is talking like a “foolish woman”. He then imparts God’s wisdom into the situation saying, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

Job had stayed firm. Satan’s ploy had failed. God had won…again.

So what are we to take away from this?

I believe there are two extremely important points critical to you and me making it through this worldly life when we’re ever walking in the midst of Satan as much as we are in the midst of God.

First, we can never underestimate who Satan might use against us. Most of us would never think we would have to doubt our wife or a parent or a sibling or a child or a best friend or co-worker. But this scripture from Job shows us that Satan can use even those closest to us to get us to cross over into his sinful wishes. This is why we need to validate every thought, word or action with God first. For the Lord will always cast His revealing light on the darkness when it tries to come upon us (1 Corinthians 4:5). Our trust should always be with God first.

Secondly, we should never underestimate that Satan might not use us to carry out his evil. Anyone who thinks they are immune to the devil’s works is probably the one closest to being taken over by him. Spiritual arrogance will never cover over a person’s spiritual weakness…and spiritual weakness is what makes us ripe for Satan’s picking. We need to be ever committed to being instruments of God’s will lest we become instruments of Satan’s instead.

How does Satan operate?

Too often, it is through people like you and me. The truth of the matter is that every person God creates is born into an affliction called sin…and thus born with as much potential to be evil in life as good.

In what realm where you and I operate?  

That depends fully on our spiritual condition. Remember that Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) Friends, as Christians, we are expected to treasure Jesus more than anything else in life…just as He treasured us when He died for our sins on Calvary’s cross. And when we make Jesus our treasure, then His word comes to life and He will be in our hearts. And when He is in our hearts, Satan cannot be as the evil one cannot exist in the presence of the Savior.

It sounds simple…and it is. Sin has no cure but there’s no reason Christians can’t be in remission…and we can get there if we just always keep Jesus as our treasure.

If we do this, we take away Satan’s ability to operate in us…and that’s exactly where we should want to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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