October 15 – Laughing at the devil

The wicked person schemes against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him.  The Lord laughs at him because He sees that his day is coming.  The wicked have drawn the sword and strung the bow to bring down the afflicted and needy and to slaughter those whose way is upright.  Their swords will enter their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.  (Psalm 37:12-15 HCSB)

God says what He means and means what He says, and evidently this teaching about the wicked and justice for the righteous is so important that He repeats it in different terms.  It doesn’t matter that those who hate us are already poised to attack us, that they have all their ammunition in place and have the worst intentions on their hearts.  God laughs at them! So if we are to be like God, we are to laugh at the schemes of those who do evil against us.  

Though some may have very distinct enemies who are plotting lawsuits or job-related cases against them, we no longer live in that world of physical battles to defend territory as people did hundred and thousands of years ago.  Enemies are not as clear-cut as they used to be, but that doesn’t mean that we are free from attackers.  

You may view your boss as an enemy, when she just may be stressed out and perceiving you unfairly.  Your enemy is not her, but demonic forces that want to manipulate her mind to treat you unfairly until you are fired or penalized in some way.  This could happen with a spouse, a teacher, a neighbor, even a friend in church.  Demons can manipulate you to imagine injustice where there is none, to inflame insecurities to the point that everything you see is an attack when in fact there is no attack, other than inside your own emotion-driven heart.  In that case the enemy is inside of you!

A good rule of thumb is to assess your own emotional state when you face an attack.  Do you feel a sense of panic, an uncontrollable fear that you’re about to be swallowed up by an evil force much bigger than you?  Are you crying out to God in desperation while at the same time blaming God for not helping you?  That may sound contradictory – and it is – but it happens to many.  If you can say yes to any of these, you’re not in the spiritual state that God can use to rescue you.  But don’t worry, it’s not too hard to switch gears into a state of real faith.

First realize that God is asking you to imitate Him, and see things through His eyes.  He laughs at the schemes of the devil, and He’s inviting us to do the same.  See your imposing “enemy” as God sees him, small, weak, defeated and with very little time left, who will be destroyed by his very own sword.  See God as He really is, huge, mighty, full of justice, love for you and hatred for evil.  See yourself as you are when you’re in a place of obedient faith: safe, protected, loved and on the path to an abundant life.