| “The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” |
| —2 Thessalonians 3:3 |
Please allow me to begin this blog post with a true story from my past:
More than forty-eight years ago, I sat in the studios of Radio Station WIHS in Middletown, Connecticut, near the end of my Saturday morning shift, which had begun at 5:30 in the morning. Soon after I finished delivering the Noon newscast, I had the privilege of pressing a button that started a reel-to-reel tape recording of the 15-minute broadcast of “The Chapel of the Air.”
On this particular Saturday, Rev. Dr. David R. Mains—a man who would soon after become my lifelong spiritual mentor—began speaking about a passage of Scripture found in 1 Peter 5:8-11:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.Rev. Mains illustrated his point, in this first of what would become three messages, by insisting that Satan’s desire is to destroy. The enemy of our soul wants to see Christians crushed under a weight of sin and faithlessness.
I remember sitting in the control room, staring at the audio console, and thinking about how profoundly true this particular point was in my own life and in the lives of countless believers that I knew. As the 15-minute broadcast came to an end with the lovely bass tones of the program’s announcer Tedd Seelye, I made a note that I would have to be certain to listen to the next two broadcasts in order to hear the rest of the story.
I did just that. And, in those two follow-ups I learned that while Satan’s desire is to destroy, our opportunity is to resist and overcome, and God’s endeavor is to equip (us to do so). Those three broadcasts gave me the clearest insight I had ever had into the struggle that constantly goes on in the Christian life: We have a real enemy and he is definitely out to get us!
Interestingly, the Apostle Paul shared much this same truth with the Christians gathered at the church in Thessalonica, as written in 2 Thessalonians 3:3:
The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
As we begin a new day, let’s cling to the reality that God waits to protect us from the one who would damage our souls. Satan was defeated by Christ on the cross. It’s as if Satan doesn’t yet realize this truth and continues to wreak havoc among Christians.
It’s important for serious Christians to keep this lesson clearly in our minds. Prayerfully, let’s ask God to give us strength and to give us protection this day, and every day. We do well to remember that God is faithful. He will give us His strength. He will protect us from the evil one.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, June 15, 2018
