Episode 85 - Satan's Tactics - Other Tactics Satan Uses Against Us

In this series of discussions we've looked at Satan's overal strategies of trying to prevent us from being a child of God, or to weaken or destroy our faith and influence.  In doing so, he seeks to seperate us from God therefor hurting God.  We also stated that he uses a variety of tactics to achieve these strategies.  We've looked at three primary tactics, pride, deception, and doubt.  

In this episode I'm looking at a variety of other tactics Satan uses against us.  We've all experienced these to some level.  We can defeat Satan's use of all of these tactics if we will remain faithful to our Lord.  

Transcript

Hello Friends, I’m your host Dr. Dave Laton and thank you for joining me in Our Journey to Hope.

It is my desire through this podcast to bring you information about how to discover, sustain, or perhaps regain hope.  

I’ve been presenting a series of episode that look at Satan’s attacks against us to rob us of our hope.  

Several Bible verses speak of us being engaged in a spiritual warfare where we see Satan using various tactics against us.  We might not realize we are engaged in spiritual warfare until we see our lives wounded or destroyed by Satan’s attacks.

Where Satan wants to separate us from God and destroy us, God wants us to be reconciled with him – forgiven and freed from the consequences of sin.  Our strategy to do this is to become what God wants us to be – like Christ.  We do this through first becoming a child of God and then to live faithfully according to God’s will as we regularly engage in prayer, study, and fellowship with other Christians.  

Paradoxically, in this warfare, and in our daily service to God, we don’t draw on our strength; we draw on God’s strength.  The more of our strength we give up in submission to God, the stronger we become and more able to combat Satan.

In spiritual warfare it is not only knowing Satan and his tactics, but also being aware of situations in which we find ourselves more vulnerable to his attacks.  

In this episode I want to continue discussing some tactics Satan uses to cause us to sin and to separate us from God.  We’ve already reviewed in previous episode the top three tactics Satan uses.  Those are pride, deception, and doubt.  These three form an unholy foundation for all the attacks Satan uses against us as he tries to prevent someone from becoming a child of God, or he seeks to destroy our faith and influence. 

Every one of us have experienced or are experiencing all these tactics used by Satan.  But remember what Paul said in Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

I am looking at these tactics by themselves but please understand, Satan uses these together.  We’ve all experienced a sense of being overburdened and overwhelmed in our efforts to live faithfully to our Lord.  

The first tactic I want to look at is ignorance.  Ignorance is the lack of knowledge about something.  We must not be ignorant to what Satan wants to do and how he goes about achieving his goals.  

It also might be not knowing how to use what we have.  We must not be ignorant of the power God has as we turn over our life to Him.

Paul gives a strong warning in 2 Corinthians 2:11 to take care "lest Satan take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices".

If we are ignorant of God’s will, our role as servants, and of Satan’s methods, then we enter the fight completely defenseless.

A common result of ignorance is confusion.  Lack of knowledge or insight leads to confusion.  In our confused state we are susceptible to poor judgments and error and an open target for Satan. 

So to help us defeat this tactic, we learn and apply God’s words to properly arm ourselves 

Another tactic Satan uses is Discouragement; A loss of confidence or enthusiasm.  Satan uses discouragement to cause us to look at our problems rather than God.

We are vulnerable when we are in a state of discouragement.  Sustained discouragement can lead back to one of Satan’s greatest weapons, doubt.

In our discouraged state we might question whether prayer works or God truly cares for us.  Satan can cause us to ask questions such as:

 ·  Why did God allow this to happen

·   If God really loved me…

·   God has abandoned me because…

In a sustained state of discouragement Satan can influence feelings and actions that we would normally not consider.

Our defense is to remember that we have a God that loves us beyond our ability to understand and to remember that, if He is for us, who can be against us.

Another common tactic Satan uses is diversion.   Diversion is when we allow ourselves to be turned aside from our course or purpose.  We allow ourselves to lose focus on the important things and focus instead on material or insignificant things.  Or we focus on those things that actually harm us and not sustain us.  

Satan likes to divert us away from things that are important to God.  In our lives we are bombarded by many diversions that command our attention no matter how much we try to focus.

Satan presents these diversions in such a way that their allure seems stronger than what God promises us.

He makes the wrong things seem attractive, so you want them more than the right things.

Diversion can lead to procrastination, putting off what needs to be done now.

Satan’s primary attempt at using procrastination against us is to cause us to delay our obedience to God.

Our defense is to seek first to do God’s will in all things.  Maintain our focus on God’s will when we find ourselves being drawn to things of the world.  Please note, many things in our life are not wrong in themselves.  But if we allow them to interfere with our service to God, then they become a distraction.  

Another common tactic Satan uses and one we all experience to some level is fear.  Fear is a natural reaction to something we perceive as dangerous or harmful.  Ironically, we should fear Satan, but he has ways to mask his danger, even making it look attractive.  We’ll speak to this more later.

Fear can be helpful as it helps us recognize danger.  But fear can also paralyze us so we don’t take action.  

Satan is a master at using our fears.  He can keep us ineffective and rob us of our joy by using our own fears.  Being fearful can make our lives miserable and, as mentioned before, to makes us ineffective in our role as servants of the Lord.  

Our defense is to learn to control our fears rather than letting them control us.  We do so by remembering that we are not alone in our journey to hope.  We have a God who cares for us and wants us to have hope.  We also have each other to encourage and strengthen us in our journey.  

Another tactic Satan uses that we have all experienced is anger.  Uncontrolled anger interferes with our thoughts and causes us to act out in ways we know to be damaging to ourselves and others.  Yes, there are times when our anger is justified, but not uncontrolled anger.  

Like fear, our defense is to control this emotion.  We must not let anger rule our lives.  The apostle Paul gives insights into the danger associated with anger and our defense against it in Ephesians 4:26-27.  He states,

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”

Being angry and do not sin is Paul’s understanding of anger as a human emotion, but if it is uncontrolled and continues, then we open ourselves up to Satan’s misuse against us.

We must make certain that our use of anger is directed in the proper way and direction. When we learn to control our anger we prevent Satan from having a foothold into our lives.

Our next tactic Satan uses and one of his most dangerous is division.  When we are divided in our purpose and efforts then we are immediately weakened and subject to his power over us.  By division I mean that Satan seeks to separate us from each other and from God.  He likes it when we stand alone.  That is a way pride is manifest in our lives.  We think we don’t need God or others in our fight.

Our defense is that we must strive stay connected with each other and of course, connected with God by seeking and fulfilling his will.  In our unity we support one another.

You’ve probably seen a nature documentary where a lion or other predatory animal waits patiently for an animal from the herd to wander off by itself.  The predator knows that the prey is vulnerable when separated.  

That is behind the warning given by the apostle Peter 1 Peter 5.  He warns us that Satan is like a prowling lion seeking to devour whom he may.  We must remain connected to each other for strength and encouragement.  We must also not wander off from our association with our Lord. 

The last tactic I want to discuss is complacency.  Complacency means to become self-satisfied.  In our complacency we become unaware of the dangers Satan is waiting to attack us with.  We become blinded to dangers around us.  

Our defense is to remain alert.  We keep up our guard and maintain our desire to seek and do God’s will.

These are common ways we are attacked by Satan.  He is always ready to use them if we are not alert.  

So friends, let’s stand strong in God’s power and with each other to prevent Satan from weakening us and separating us from our Father.  And if we do weaken and give in to Satan, remember that we serve a loving God who will welcome us back.  In this we have hope.

Friends, thank you for joining me as together we journey to hope.  I trust in some small way we have encouraged you to discover, sustain, or regain hope through this effort.   

I invite you to contact me if you have questions or comments, or if you wish to share with me something you’ve experienced in your journey to hope.  My email is info@ourjourneytohope.com.   

And please, share this podcast with someone whose hope is being challenged.

I look forward to sharing more with you soon.  Again, I'm Dr. Dave Laton, and thank you for listening.  And until our next episode, remember, we give all glory to God our Father.