February 17

If Satan continues to hound you, call in help and do not listen to the devil's counsel to the contrary. The very strength of some temptations lies in trying to keep them hidden. Telling a trusted, godly friend of your struggles often brings relief. Satan knows this too well, so in order more freely to rifle the soul of its peace and comfort, he frightens it into silence. "Oh, my," Satan says, "if your friends knew such a thing of you, they would cast you off. You had better hope they never find out!" He has kept many a poor soul in misery by swearing it to secrecy. You lose two blessings by keeping the devil's secret-- the counsel of your fellow brethren, and their prayers. And what a serious loss this is!

You have the assurance of victory if you are armed. We have seen the perilous straits of the unarmed soul; turn your thoughts now to the glorious prospects of a soul fitly armed. Who would decline the honor of serving in the army of the King of kings-- especially when victory has already been declared! This is the assurance Paul gives every saint who puts on the whole armor of God: "That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." With this statement he places the enemy's potential back in proper perspective. He never intended to scare the saints into cowardly flight or woeful despair of victory when he acknowledged the enemy's might. Rather, he hoped to rouse them to vigorous resistance by promising them strength to stand in battle, and a sure victory afterwards. These two ideas are implied in the phrase "to stand against the wiles of Satan." Sometimes to stand implies a fighting posture (Ephesians 6:14), sometimes a conquering position-- "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth" (Job 19:25). The earth which today is the field for all the bloody battles between the saints and Satan, will one day be Christ's footstool, when not an enemy shall dare to show his head.

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