ICS Daily Devotions
Beware of the Devil’s Schemes
1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
From the Book of Job, we see that the devil’s tactic was to destroy Job’s life bit by bit. He killed Job’s children, then stole all his wealth, and when he still didn’t manage to get Job to curse God, he used Job’s wife to increase the pressure on him. Therefore, we need to watch and pray because the devil is walking around like a lion seeking whom he can devour.
Job 2:9-10 (NKJV) Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Although Job’s wife only appeared once in the book, she left us with a deep and negative impression. It appears that she has deserted God and her husband when he lost everything. Yes, she suffered the loss of her children too, but it seems it was too much of a fall and an adjustment for her.
The devil’s tactic is that if the external force is unable to break us, he will use the people closest to us, like how he used Job’s wife to strike him by ridiculing him for being in such a state after loving and honouring God all his life. The devil will not hesitate to turn us against our spouse to divide and conquer by sowing strife.
The devil used Job’s wife to utter out his objective which is to “curse God and die” because of their suffering. Remember that the devil told God the reason Job was doing well was because of God’s blessings.
Job 1:11(NKJV) But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
Many Christians will lovingly embrace and love God because they have been seeking His blessings. Unfortunately, many have reacted in the same manner as Job’s wife when crisis hit. The true colour of our character will be revealed by whether we are still praising God in the midst of a crisis.
As Christians, we need to know that the devil has the right to sift our faith because God is a just and righteous God. Our faith will also be sifted in time of crisis just as the devil sifted Peter’s faith after Jesus was arrested. Therefore, we must not be ignorant of the devil’s scheme, but make sure that we are thankful to the Lord for His salvation plan. We need to lay the foundation that we are blessed to be saved, and the rest of what we have in life, especially wealth and earthly possessions, are just temporal.
Sermon Series: Job & I
