March 26, 2020 – Click here to listen
President Trump has coined the Coronavirus as “The invisible enemy.” We can’t see it and yet it lurks almost everywhere one can imagine ready to invade our bodies and cause us pain, discomfort, sorrow and even death. And it spreads from person to person with ease.
I was mulling this over today and could not help but think how similar it is to Satan and his demonic horde. Although we cannot visibly see him make no mistake he is there and desires to do us harm. It is interesting to me that so many people fear the Coronavirus including governments all over the world to the point that extreme measures are being implemented to avoid contact with it at all costs. And yet most people don’t even give Satan a thought.
One would think that that we would very carefully consider ways to avoid him at all costs because unlike the virus his plan is to cause you pain and discomfort in hell forever. I went to the grocery story yesterday and was wary of all those shoppers. I looked at people picking up produce and other items and then putting them back and it made me paranoid to buy our needed supplies and groceries. What if we did likewise when we viewed the things around us in the same manner, only it was Satan we were trying to avoid at all costs.
We would without a doubt stay away from certain people, no one would be accessing porn on the internet, the sale of booze and illegal drugs would slow to a crawl, abortion would stop, as would sex trafficking. In short people would think first and consider the ramifications before acting.
The trouble with the satanic invisible enemy is that for whatever reason people don’t take it seriously or don’t believe that Satan really exists even though seven Old Testament books and nineteen
New Testament books refer to the existence of Satan. While some Christians believe strongly in the existence of demons and spiritual warfare, others downplay or even ignore the idea. What’s up with that? Do they believe the Bible is a lie?
This thinking coming from even “Christians” puts them and those who have similar beliefs at extreme risk. It reminds me of all of the spring breakers who came to Florida to party together en masse and then got the virus. When we allow it to go unchecked for whatever reason it easily spreads to the entire population of the world. The satanic invisible enemy is far more dangerous and yet governments worldwide don’t issue warnings and shut down society, the media doesn’t cover it, there is no non-stop campaign to eradicate it from our midst. It continues to spread all over the world.
There are just a few men and women of God determined to sound the alarm and try to convince people to turn to our Lord as the ultimate therapeutic, vaccination, and cure for this the mother of all plagues. They preach and pray with the few resources available to them and seem to be losing the battle. Think about it in these terms and it just might save you from sorrow and grief as you avoid being exposed to the invisible enemy that will kill your very soul.
The most troubling things in your life – things you perceive with your five physical senses—are not your real issue. Everything that occurs in the visible, physical world is directly connected to the wrestling match being waged in the invisible, spiritual world. Your real enemy – the devil – wants you to ignore the spiritual reality behind the physical one. Because as long as you’re focused on what you can see with your physical eyes, he can continue to run rampant underneath the surface. The more you disregard him, the more damage he is free to do. The enemy may be invisible, but he is not fictional. He is very real, and very persistent, waging war against us constantly.
Being a believer doesn’t give you immunity from the assaults of the enemy, but it does give you access to the power of the Father – His power to defend you as well as reverse what’s been done to you. If you want to win the fight – if you want to join me in pinning down the enemy and crippling his impact in your life – the key is realizing you’re connected to a greater power that he who is in the world.
Paul wrote Ephesians not only to draw attention to the spiritual battle that exists in the invisible, unseen realm, but largely for the purpose of unveiling the strength inherent in every person who is in relationship with God through Christ. In Ephesians, Paul highlights one of the most important yet overlooked aspects of our spiritual armor: prayer.
Paul deemed prayer so critical in gaining victory over Satan’s power in our lives he even burst right out praying several times while he was writing. And when he prays . . . he knew prayer was able to change the trajectory of their whole lives. Victory in spiritual warfare is inseparable from prayer.
Ephesians 1:18
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.