What Would Satan Want? 3 Tips to Battle Strong

One day last week, I was thinking about sending a friend a text of encouragement. Something happened and it discouraged me from sending the text because I didn’t want her to think I was trying to connect due to any ulterior motives. I didn’t send the text.

After this situation, a thought emerged. “What would Satan have wanted me to do?” The answer was clear. He would want to plant doubt in my mind and keep me from sending this friend encouragement and scripture. Wait… that’s actually what happened. He won! How often does this happen?

Lately, I’ve been amazed at new details that are coming to light in stories from the Bible I’ve heard nearly all my life. Through a group Bible Study I’m a part of, I was recently brought to the story of the devil testing Jesus in the wilderness. If you’re not familiar with the story, I’ll give you a quick summary. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where he fasted and was tempted by the devil for forty days. The Bible tells us that at the end of the forty days, He was hungry. (I can’t begin to imagine the “hangry” I would experience after forty days of tempting AND fasting!) The Bible then gives three specific ways the devil tested him. Jesus responded to each testing by quoting scripture. (If you’re making mental notes for takeaways, that’s a good key to remember. Fight off Satan’s attacks with scripture!) What really intrigued me was a detail only found in Luke’s account of this story.

This specific story can also be found in Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels, but Luke gives an extra detail in his account. When talking about the devil leaving Jesus after the failed temptation events, Luke added in chapter 4, verse 13, “until an opportune time.” Those two words jumped out at me: “opportune time.” My Bible commentary on this scripture explains that Satan’s temptations didn’t end on that day for Jesus, but rather continued throughout his ministry.

Satan’s Opportune Times

Merriam Webster’s definition of the word “opportune” is “suitable or convenient for a particular occurrence.” So I asked myself, “When does Satan consider it to be an opportune time to attack?” I would definitely say that when I’m hangry, Satan could easily catch me being impatient, intolerant, and weak minded. Sounds pretty opportune for Satan’s schemes. What are some other times that might be conducive conditions for Satan? Here are a few opportune times I’ve thought of:

• When we’re extremely tired

• When we’ve not been consistent with our quiet time or prayer time

• When we’re not consistently connected with a group of believers

• When we have drama in our life

• When sin is distracting us

• When our selfishness is dominating over humility

Think about this for just a moment. When are you at your weakest either physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually? Can you identify times in your life when you were perfectly conditioned for the devil’s demise?

I’ve found that not keeping my emotions in check is the Devil’s Playground. In her book, Dare to Lead, author Brene Brown talks about the story we tell ourselves in our head. She describes the turmoil we create when we try to read other people’s thoughts and emotions about us and we let our thoughts run wild. Many times, reality is far from the story we imagine in our minds. Have you ever sent a friend or a family member a text about something that could cause some emotion and then had to wait for them to return your text? Did your mind make up a story about why you weren’t hearing back from them?

I’m thinking women might do this more than men. My husband has had to talk me off the cliff many times when I’ve been worried about what someone else is thinking in response to something I’ve said or done. When we imagine what others are thinking or feeling about us and the story we’re telling ourselves is the worst case scenario, this is an example of an opportune time for Satan.

In Jon Gordon’s book, The Garden, he describes Five D’s evil uses to defeat us. Below are quotes from the book on each of the Five D’s:

• Doubt- “...the enemy is causing you to doubt God, doubt yourself, and focus on what you lack…”

• Distort and Discourage- “The enemy distorts truth with lies to cause you to doubt and become discouraged.”

• Distract- “... the enemy uses distractions all the time to catch our attention and lead us away from what matters most.”

• Divide- “Every time you doubt God, every time you believe the lie, every time you get discouraged, and every time you get distracted you will feel further away and more disconnected from God and the people you love.”

Being aware of the Five D’s Gordon has coined that the devil uses to defeat us is quite a powerful tool to ready yourself for the battle against Satan.

Our oldest son is a receiver on our high school football team and they have been watching film to learn more about their opponents in order to be prepared for battle. What corners do they run? How do their corners, safeties, and linebackers react to different formations and routes? What patterns come up in the defense? (I have no idea what any of that means!!! I just asked Bryson and then typed what he said word for word.) Our oldest daughter plays travel ball and at her tournaments, our coaches will go watch opposing teams in order to be prepared for how the pitcher pitches, where their weaknesses are, which players are the strongest batters, and more. Both teams do this to prepare for battle. They get to know their opponents. We need to get to know our biggest opponent in life… Satan.

3 Tips for Fighting off Satan

John 10:10 says,

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

You’ll see me quote this verse many times in my blog posts. It’s one of my favorites and such a great reminder of what Satan wants for us, contrasted by what Jesus offers. Satan’s entire focus is on creating evil in our lives and separating us from the love of God. He wants to disconnect us from having an abundant life in Christ. We must be aware of Satan’s goal and be ready for his attacks. Below are three tips for fighting off Satan:

1. Begin each day asking for God’s help in the battle.

In Matthew 6, Jesus told His disciples how to pray. In a portion of The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus modeled, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Jesus told us to ask for these things!

1. Know your opponent.

Be aware of Satan’s character and his goals. He wants to destroy you and separate you from peace, hope, joy, the love of God, and His will. Don’t let your guard down. Satan is looking for an opportune time.

1. Fight Satan with Scripture

Jesus gave us a perfect example of how to defeat the devil and resist his schemes. He used scripture with each test the evil one threw at Him. I need to memorize more scripture, post it in all my common places, and use it more as a weapon to fight off Satan.

Satan is real. He stalks us and waits for a perfect opportunity to slither in and destroy us. He wants to see us fail, separate ourselves from God, experience misery, and doubt God’s will for our lives. We see signs on fences that warn us, "Beware of Dog." These signs alert us and have us proceed, or walk away, with extreme caution. We need signs that say "Beware of Satan" posted all over the place. He is much more dangerous than any ferocious dog and, even worse, he is not pinned in. He lurks around, ready to pounce. But I have good news to leave you with. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says,

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

He WILL provide a way out. Are you battling Satan right now? Has he caught you at an opportune time? Find your battle verse. Use it as a weapon and look to God for your way out.