Victory Over The Enemy

I've been having a difficult time for the past week. My mother went for her routine check-up with her cardiologist. He was concerned about some issues she was starting to have and ordered a echo cardiogram and a stress test. After the stress test the doctor told her that they had seen a small spot in the lower part of her heart. He ordered a heart catheter and we went in believing possibly she would need a stent or two.

Three days later we are standing beside a hospital bed looking at my mother who is still on a vent after just coming out of bypass surgery. Seeing her on that vent, so soon after losing my brother who had spent several weeks on a vent, was hard on all of us. For me it opened a whole new floodgate of grief over the loss of my brother.

Our enemy, the devil, specializes in attacking when we are down. God tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that our enemy prowls around like a lion seeking someone to devour. Like a lion, he lurks around watching, waiting until we are weak or distracted by something else. While I was caught up in the emotion of my grief, true to form, the enemy decided to attack.

Even though my mother was and is improving every day, in the first few days after her surgery the enemy tormented me with thoughts and fears regarding her recovery. During the weakest moments he would remind me how my brother had improved on a daily basis and yet still died unexpectedly. These thoughts coupled with the grief I was still feeling over the loss of my brother threw me into a season of depression.

Victory over the depression began when the Lord showed me that the devil had nothing to gain in this battle by taking my mother, or even in my brother's death, unless I allowed him to have victory over me in this situation, because whether in life or in death my mother and brother will walk with Jesus.

Victory begins when we realize where the attack is coming from but victory can only be obtained when we stand in the gap and refuse to let the enemy have victory through us. 2 Thessalonians 2:14,15 tells us that God called us that we might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and that we should stand firm in the teachings that we have received both through the readings of the scripture and from the mouths of God's servants.

Father God, thank you for your Word for your Word is truth and the Truth sets us free from the attacks of the enemy. I thank you for the men and women of God whom you have brought into my life to encourage me and remind me of your teachings. Help me today and everyday to stand firm in your teachings that I may resist the attacks of the enemy and have victory through the blood of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen!