When I was a little girl, while all the other kids were learning John 3:16, my mom was teaching me “Get thee behind me Satan! I claim the blood of Jesus Christ.” This, of course, could have something to do with the fact that I tended to get into trouble quite a bit but mostly it was because my mom knew about spiritual warfare and wanted me to be prepared. Satan is alive and kicking on the Springfield campus and I’m so grateful I’m prepared to kick back. Each week, it seems, something goes wrong. Our video or sound doesn’t work, we run out of chairs, our check-in computers lock up – something happens. Someone on that campus is about to hear about Jesus and Satan doesn’t like it one bit.
Over the weeks, I would walk in and brace myself for what was going to happen that day. A couple of Sundays ago, Brad Damas, our worship leader, came into Treehouse to sing a special song with the kids. Instant audio failure. While they were working on the problem, I took the time to tell those kids about Satan and spiritual warfare. I taught them the very words my mom had taught me at their age and voila – our audio started working. Take that Satan!
This past week, we got brand new VGA cords (I’m getting so technical on a setup campus) and they wouldn’t work. After weeks of getting frustrated, I had to sit there and laugh. Apparently not the reaction Satan wanted because the video started working. I learned a valuable lesson from that day. You see it’s not always what goes wrong that he’s after – it’s how we react to the situation. When you leave church mad and bitter, Satan has won. Things are not going to go perfectly on Sunday morning, but we can react perfectly. We do have the power of God on our side and with that there is nothing Satan can do to stop us.
Last Sunday night, the children at the main campus performed Walk of Love. Before it ever began, Robyn Collins told the kids we were about to go to war. (Nothing says Merry Christmas like warfare.) We were about to tell an auditorium full of people how Jesus made a walk of love for us and how they could make a walk of love to Him. She told them Satan was not going to like that. Then she prayed. She prayed for them to remember the words, she prayed for the hearts to receive the words and she prayed that the children would conduct themselves appropriately. Again, it’s how we act that the world sees, not what we say.
How very wonderful that our children are learning how to combat Satan at such an early age. I pray that you won’t let Satan discourage you and take control of your heart. Lets show the world that we have the love of God in us and nothing Satan can throw at us will destroy that.
Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19)