THE ENEMY HAS LIMITED CONTROL AND POWER

10/28/14

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, From where have you come?" "Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."" 8 And the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"" 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Job 1
I find it quite interesting in this portion of scripture from the OT that Satan came to present himself to God, and that the Father had asked him if he had considered his servant Job. The Lord God had complete control and power in that he allowed Satan to come and harm him and his possessions, but not to take his life.

We are told that "Greater is he that is in you than is he that is in the world." I John 4:4

The enemy has limited power and control in the world. He can only do what God allows him to do. While we must be aware and wise to his devices, we have been given the full armor to stand up against him and his legions. While he was defeated at the cross, he still comes to tempt, steal, and destroy. Most of his work centers in our minds and our thoughts. That is where the real battle field takes place. But even there, we are given power through taking every thought captive.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 2 Cor. 10:5

He has been sent to live in secret in the darkest dungeons away from the light. He can't do his work out in the open; he is limited. He was banished to a dark kingdom far away from the light of God. While his weapons are subtle, they are limited in how that can be employed. And it's not to say that those weapons are not dangerous or that they cannot cause harm to us, they can, but they are limited to what we allow. It's like a great stone wall that is erected and all of it seems to be strong and secure. But when one closely inspects it they find small gaps between some of the stones. These small openings or gaps, are very much like the openings that come into our own lives. Fissures develop spiritually where we may have become bitter towards someone, and a root develops, an opening comes, and the wall is weakened, and the enemy comes in there. There are many subtle ways that this can happen of course, and yet if we stand our ground as we know, he will flee. As we stand beside that gap in the wall dressed in our armor, the Holy Spirit can then take the spiritual mortar and apply it to the hole that is present. Then the opening is sealed and the enemy is not allowed to come in there. But the time will come when another opening will develop. It will be one that we were unaware of. Perhaps we've become proud or successful with a job or a career, and we think that we are invincible. Maybe we react suddenly in anger at small irritations, or maybe someone else around us is on edge, and we could easily react back. The opening starts small, but over time it gets larger and larger. It has developed at a corner of the wall where we hadn’t noticed. But every time, if one is sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, the mortar can be applied yet again.

The enemy came before the throne of God several thousand years ago and was given limited control over the life of the Patriarch Job. Today, in spite of the darkness that we see all around us as it spreads, we see the effects of spiritual depravity and confusion. But the great foundation builder is always there, ready to take his trowel and seal up the gaps that have spread in this world and in our own lives. We fight spiritual hosts of wicknessness around us, but they are weak in comparison to the word that has been given to us and the power that emanates through it.

Stephen Hanson