Peter says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to

devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” (1Pe 5:8-9).

Our enemy knows our tendencies, do we know his?

• Satan knows that if he makes Christians defensive, we will think and grow as a result.
• Satan knows if he causes us to become angry, we will act and our faith will grow stronger.
• Satan knows that if he leads us to believe our mission is overwhelming, we will simply pray for God’s help.
• Satan knows if he tries to destroy us with disease, disaster, or death, we turn to God for strength, security, and salvation.

The devil knows these methods are not his most powerful strategy. So he moves us to satisfaction:

• If a child of God begins to put away sins that disappoint God, the devil will want us to think that everyone has a vice or two to hang on too, we are just human after all. Why should Christians try so hard?
• If I begin to regret my sin, Satan might see to it that I compare myself to Hussein or Hitler, that will make me satisfied with my own goodness.
• The world is large and full of sin. Satan wants us to see ourselves as insignificant and unable to impact the world.  We have enough just keeping ourselves from sin.  “Be satisfied you are doing right,” he says.
• The devil wants you and me to find satisfaction in the size of our church family.  He closes our eyes to the hundreds (no thousands) around us that are lost.  He disengages our compassion to the eternal destiny of the lost in our community and city. After all those empty seats are evidence of the post-Christian world we live in.

Yes, satisfaction can be a tool of the devil. He knows that if I am satisfied with where I am, with what I am doing, with the way things are, then I will not work for the future of God’s kingdom on earth. Living in satisfaction, keeps me average so that I will never be extraordinary.

Dear Father in Heaven, please help me not be satisfied with being or becoming and average Christians.  Help me to be strong and courageous. Help me to make opportunities to do Your will and to grow Your Kingdom. Help me seek to be unsatisfied with the status quo and to be a more and more faithful servant to You. In Jesus name.

– Scott