Over the past couple of months, I have felt the effects of a spiritual attack.  As we get closer to our trip to Uganda on November 1st and our move there, the attacks have been coming in more and more frequently.  As I gain a greater understanding that the real message of biblical Christianity is that God loves me so that I might make Him-His ways, His salvation, His glory and His greatness-known among all nations.  Satan seeks to oppose God’s plans and deprive Him of the glory due His name.

The best scripture I’ve found that talks about spiritual warfare is in 2 Kings 6 where Elisha and his servant were surrounded by the Syrian army. The servant said, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” And Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them,” Elisha prayed to the Lord, and God opened the servant’s eyes so that he could see the hills “full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kg. 6:17).

Some of the methods of the attack I’ve been feeling include:  sowing seeds of doubt, discouragement, busyness, attempting to divide Vicki and I, and desires for worldliness.   John 10:10 states that, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”.  I should have expected these attacks and should have known that we wouldn’t be exempt from the attacks because even Jesus faced an attack on His mission from Satan.  When Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights, the devil tried to tempt him in various ways to defeat Christ’s purpose. The devil knew who Jesus was. He wanted Christ’s mission to be hindered so he tried to put Him to untimely death, but the Lord handled the temptation perfectly and won that crucial battle.

The first tactic of sowing seeds of doubt is accomplished by telling me that maybe missions isn’t my real calling.  That because my house hasn’t sold, maybe this isn’t God’s plan for me.  That I’m not equipped to actually do this.  The sacrifice is too big.  We will never be able to raise enough funds to make the trip or support us for our time in Uganda.  We shouldn’t take our kids to a dangerous environment.

The next tactic is discouragement.  I’ve felt this every time we have showed our house to a prospective buyer and not been able to make a sale.  I’ve also felt this when I have expectations of funding that don’t come to fruition.

The next tactic is busyness.  I’ve been so busy with work, volunteer work, church, Bible studies, vacation, kid stuff, etc that I’ve really been neglecting my quiet time with God.  My prayer life and Bible study time has suffered as a result of this busyness.  When this happens, the seeds of doubt and discouragement seem to really begin to gain some traction.

Vicki and I have also noticed that Satan is attacking our marriage.  Satan’s strategy is simple: He knows that by destroying your marriage, he can destroy your ministry.  We have noticed the enemy using this tactic and we have been working on making sure we are able to recognize when he is attempting to use this tactic and work together to fight against it.

The final strategy he is using is to appeal to my desire for worldliness.  This has popped up several times including when we sold our Yukon, when we sold our Tundra, when we look around at all the stuff we have, when we look at what we are going to be giving up.  This tactic has probably had the least effect on me of all the tactics used, but I have noticed it creeping up from time to time.

Our pastor at Faith Baptist Church has been preaching through a sermon series on Ephesians.  He has recently spent several weeks on Ephesians 6:10-18 regarding putting on the full armor of God.  This series has been very timely for defending against these attacks.  I know from 1 John 4:4 that He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world.  I feel that m ission-minded believers are the prime targets of the adversary and his war against the people of God is being intensified daily because he knows full well that his time is running out.

Please keep praying for our mission and our defense of these attacks.

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