Resisting the Devil (when you'd rather cry foul)

“Firm in your faith, resist him (the devil), well aware that throughout the world sufferings of this kind are imposed upon your brotherhood.” 1 Peter 5:9

If we are not careful, personal suffering can make us become nearsighted. Think about the effect of physical pain. I experienced second and third degree burns over the lower half of my right leg a year and a half ago. The pain was some of the most intense I have ever felt.

Upon standing everything would rush to the wounded area, already inflamed from the burn itself. It felt like my leg was actually going to explode. There were very few thoughts about anyone else in those moments of excruciating pain.

The same is true for emotional and other kinds of pain. Pain is the warning system that something is wrong, that danger is imminent, and that we need to protect ourselves. Once, when dressing my wounded leg, our cat decided to grab onto it to settle in my lap. Her intentions were fine, it was her claws that sent me grabbing for the light fixture above with a yelp of agony.

When we are personally suffering the world revolves around our pain and our attempts to decrease it. Every nerve seems to stand at attention, waiting for the next thing that would poke the spot already aching on its own. We are on the defense, we draw attention to ourselves, and we seem to have less capacity to bear the seemingly petty complaints of others.

The devil will play into that, if we are not careful. That is why Peter tells us to resist him, “firm in our faith.” Faith has little ability to ease the actual level of pain, but it can provide a perspective. The “faith” of a Christian remembers that we have a God who was willing to suffer on our behalf. It reminds us we have a Savior who suffered the cruelty of every sort of pain.

The devil, on the other hand, would have us so concerned with our personal anguish we lose sight of what God has done for us in love. He turns our temporal pain into the focus of our life and we neglect the truths of eternal joy which Jesus has promised. If we stand, “firm in our faith”, we have a hope that is clear-eyed and ready to go forward, even when in pain.

This is not a “pie in the sky” reticence that simply endures. We have seen far too many act the martyr when going through personal trial. This is not God’s plan. He would have us, though suffering now, keep our hopes upon the joy that is before us.

But, there is another level on which we resist the devil during suffering. We are to remember we are not the only ones in distress. Again, the devil wants us bring the focus upon our own woundedness. God, instead, points us to the others who suffer as well.

We are told to be “well aware” of the sufferings of imposed on the brotherhood throughout the world. In this, Christ is still our example. Not only was Jesus’ suffering redemptive for us, bringing us back to God, it also served another purpose.

Jesus suffered so he could empathize with us in our own sufferings. That is what we are instructed to do as well. When we are in pain, we can use it in the same way Christ did. We hurt, and we are more able to understand the pain of others.

These two things, a faith that understands God’s view of pain, and a view that others also endure suffering, can pin back the devil’s ears. He would have the pain make our lives even more fiercely focused on ourselves. But, with faith in God’s plan, and compassion for those suffering around us, the devil’s devices can be thwarted.

Father, no one likes pain. I do not like being hurt or trying to work through physical or mental agony. But, I will not allow the devil to use it for his purposes. Instead I will hold on to Him who so strongly has gripped me in Christ. And, I will cause it to remind me of those whose suffering is so much greater than my own.