Experience tells me that the natural flow of life brings its own challenges. Our quest to grow in the character of Christ calls us to face such times with grace. At the same time, such testings may be accompanied by supernatural attacks that seek to intensify and exploit our vulnerable moments. C. S. Lewis, a man wise in the ways of spiritual warfare, depicted a potent weapon in the Christian’s arsenal: unconditional faith. In Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape says to his apprentice nephew Wormwood:
Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending to do our enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.
I don’t want to make you paranoid, but the Bible clearly tells us that we are surrounded by supernatural witnesses, both demons and angels, who interact with our responses. We all have times of feeling that we have won or lost a battle, when more seems at stake than personal reputation. In any circumstance, we should ask, “Am I honoring the Lord with my response, or am I giving place to the devil’s influence?”
