“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 (NIV)Skitterphoto / Pixabay
Problem
You just don’t expect anything to go wrong in a new house and yet there I was with a problem. A MOUSE problem! As I sat in the early morning quiet, drinking coffee, and minding my own business, an unwelcome sound interrupted the peaceful atmosphere. It couldn’t be! Surely not! But yes, it was the dreaded noise of little gnawing teeth that had caught my attention. Cautiously, I tip toed into the kitchen and there right before my eyes was a furry, pointed nose covered in whiskers poking out from underneath the corner of my stove! I don’t know who was more startled or disgruntled! My first thought was, “How dare this intruder find a way into my home!” and the next was, “How am I going to get rid of it?”
Since then I’ve also realized I have another intruder. When it’s quiet, especially in the middle of the night, he finds his way into the corners of my thoughts, gnaws away at my confidence, and steals my peace of mind. You may have** guessed it: I have a devil problem, too. Now, how am I going to get rid of IT?
Funny as it seems, the devil and a mouse are an awful lot alike.( Awful being the key word!) A mouse likes to get into what’s stored in your cupboards while the devil digs up what’s stored in your past. Mice leave an evidence trail of filth behind and Satan pollutes our view with evidence of our failures , fears, and temptations. A mouse can actually look cute from afar and the devil knows exactly how to make his ways appear attractive to each of us, too. The mice soon learned how to remove the bait we left without triggering the trap and the evil one is even more cunning than that, ready to take what he can, when he can.
It wasn’t until we found and blocked the place where the mice were actually getting in, that we were finally able to keep our house free from further intrusion. We must do everything we can to block the devil’s attempts to enter into our lives as well.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:10, 13-17 (NIV)
Living in the country, our mouse problem will probably always be on-going but we’ve learned a few things and have gotten some tools to help us keep them out of the house. Living as a Christian, our devil problem will be a continuous one too, but God reminds us to stay alert and He provides each of us with everything we’ll need to make the devil flee: His truth, righteousness, and peace, our faith in Him, our salvation in Christ, and His Word are the perfect tools to help us ultimately be victorious problem solvers once and for all.
Because God’s children are human beings-made of flesh and blood-the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.” Hebrews 2:14 (NLT)
This post is written as part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Friday Free Writes Challenge. You can read posts from other writers on the same topics over at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com I hope you know that I so appreciate you being here! God bless, Cindy