What is Satan’s Plan For Your Life?
What is Satan’s plan for your life? It is a profound question and one I never considered until God snuck up on me. I was sitting in a church service twelve years ago on a non-descript Sunday. The pastor was talking about God having a personal plan for our lives. And I sensed God asking me to ask this question. “So if God has a personal plan and the enemy is a fallen angel, who one day was glorious but proved false, he must also have a personal strategy to take me out.” In that moment, during the sermon, I paused and quietly asked God that question, “What is the enemy’s plan for my life?” Instantly three ideas came to mind:
– Be president of my own company.
– Be rich.
– Marry my high school sweetheart.
Wow. For a moment, life was crystal clear. I realized how much energy I invested in those three desires. How much hope I pinned on these three dreams. And how they would have ultimately led to my destruction, or at least to a very ineffective life. You see, my story was one of constantly looking toward leadership, success and women for my validation. And the hardest part was how often it worked. But in the end, these three ideas (none of which in themselves are bad) would have been the perfect strategy for me to miss the call of God on my life.
It’s an important question for each of us to ask. And a question to keep asking over time.
There are daily strategies, cultural strategies, geographical strategies of the enemy set to “steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10) us. And there are also the personal strategies, brilliantly and mischievously crafted taking into account our stories, our woundedness, our most vulnerable and most “true” places in the hopes that we can be destroyed before we ever become whole, holy and unstoppable forces of good in a broken world. Peter says that the enemy prowls like a roaring lion seeking to devour us. (1 Peter 5) Peter implores us to “be alert” and Paul urges us to be aware of Satan’s schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11).
A big piece of the decade of the thirties is coming to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the enemy’s strategy for your life.
This week, ask yourself that question. And I’d encourage you to share your comments with other men on this journey.