AnOpportuneTime

"When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an
opportune time." Luke 4:13

Home alone for weeks and sick for the past five days, I found myself thinking upon
the old self defeating lies from my painful past. My husband was on a ministry tour
for the past two weeks without me, and I was home finishing two important classes
for my degree. I had chosen to take two accelerated courses for the weeks he was
gone, hoping to pass the time more quickly. All study, no one to talk to, and feeling
isolated, the old thoughts of worthlessness and inadequacies began to creep in, "I will
never amount to anything…my life is a waste…I am a worthless individual…" I did
my best to ignore them, but they shouted all the louder to get my attention. "Where are
these accusations coming from?" I asked myself. I thought I had conquered these lies
a long time ago. Battling depression and anxiety for most of my life, these thoughts
were familiar to me from times past. I fell asleep that evening asking God, "Why am I
slipping back?"

The next morning my assignment for one of my classes was to read the entire book of
Luke in the New Testament. I began reading until I came to chapter four, verse
thirteen. The words jumped off the page and poured into my wounded soul. "When the
devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." It was then
that I realized my old negative and accusing thoughts were not coming from me, but
from the evil one who was trying to take me back into my old ways. The context of this
verse is pulled from the first thirteen verses of Luke chapter four, when Jesus is led
into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. I used to think that the Holy Spirit guided Jesus
into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, but verse one actually gives us a clue as
to why Satan showed up. "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan and was
led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil." When
I read this verse, I realized this was not an arrangement between the Spirit and Satan
to test Jesus, as much as it was the devil who was taking advantage of Jesus' fatigue,
hunger, and isolation. Jesus was being led by the Spirit within him to be tested, but
Satan was most definitely the opportunist here.

As the passage continues, we see Jesus model for us the only defense to Satan's lies,
God's truth. Time after time, Satan uses Jesus' weakest and most vulnerable state to
tempt Jesus to bow to Satan as God. But Jesus resists Satan with God's Word. Jesus
was only able to resist Satan's lies by recalling and recommitting Himself to
Scripture. God's Word is God's voice of truth to us, whispering to us statements of truth
that are louder than Satan's shouts of lies. Scripture is the only thing powerful enough
to discourage Satan and cause him to flee for a more opportune time-maybe a time
when we are too busy to be in the Word, or when we are too emotional to recall the
Word. We must realize we need our sword, the Word of God, at all times; but most
especially at the most stressful or difficult times of our lives that become Satan's
playground.

Satan is an opportunist and a liar. The temptation was two fold: one-the lie itself and
two-the temptation to believe Satan because Jesus was at his weakest state
physically, and most likely emotionally. When Jesus was hungry, weak, and lonely,
Satan pounced. I realized that morning who was behind the temptation for me to slip
back into the old lies of defeat and hopelessness-Satan. Being alone and weary from
all work and no play, Satan pounced. But returning to verse thirteen gave me both
strength and direction. I began to remind myself of God's truth about myself and my
God, found in Scripture. I also assured myself that I really wasn't slipping back into
that black hole; it was merely Satan being the opportunist once again.

What a relief it was to recognize Satan's strategy as the lie I was facing. "This is
merely an opportune time," I reminded myself. I will not heed to the accusations
within. Instead, I will embrace my good Shepherd's truth over my life, no matter how
vulnerable my emotions due to my circumstances. Truth is truth irrelevant of my
emotions. The truth about Satan is simply that he is a liar waiting to pounce at an
opportune time. I'm sure life will give him more opportunities in the future; but today,
I am claiming truth. One word of advice: know your Good Shepherd's voice, but know
your enemies tactics as well!!!!