I was walking one morning recently just after it had rained for the better part of the day and night before. Everything was wet. There were puddles everywhere. There were dead frogs scattered around. Wait what? That’s right. Dead frogs. Could’ve been toads. Close enough. Just stay with me. Squashed frogs would be more accurate.
The short version is that frogs and toads come out after it rains a lot to mate, lay eggs and because they need a dark, wet environment. They need conditions that don’t dry them out, so that’s why we see them after those long rains. They hop to the road and bad things happen. That day I passed four frogs squashed in the road. First, gross. You can thank me later for not posting pictures. Second, I got to thinking about how those poor frogs didn’t know what hit them. It reminded me of how Satan does the same thing to us.
If you were a frog, that day looked good. It was exactly what you needed. Except for the frogs that got squashed. Satan comes at us this same way. He doesn’t show up with a pitchfork and horns. It’s much easier to say no and run the other way when the bad guy looks bad. You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m out.
Here’s the thing, though, Satan is good at being bad. He’s a crafty one. He doesn’t show up in our lives looking like sin and trouble. He shows up looking just like what we need. If we fall for that we’re going to get squashed.
In 2 Corinthians 11:14 were told that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. Paul is warning us of false apostles and others claiming to be servants of Christ. Satan comes at us in disguise looking like the answer. He looks like the light. In 1 Peter 5:8, we told, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
His motive is clear. He’s working hard to try and trick us. He wants nothing more than to destroy us. We must stay alert. It’s a safe bet that he’s prowling around the edges of your life just waiting to look like exactly what you need. He looks like the rest we crave when it’s time to work. He looks like a friend that will eventually get us into trouble when loneliness is haunting us. He looks like birthday cake when my health is suffering. He looks like a very plausible excuse to get me out of something I didn’t want to do anyway.
In 2 Corinthians 2:11, it says we’re not unaware or ignorant of Satan’s schemes. We know that he is actively trying to trip us up, especially as we grow closer to God. He doesn’t need to spend time hunting those he already has. He comes hard after those who are obeying God.
So, what can we do? First, be aware. Second, be vigilant. The Bible (1 Corinthians 14:33) says that God is not a God of disorder but of peace. This is a real clue when you’re wondering if something or someone is from God or the devil. Chaos and disorder don’t come from God. God doesn’t try to confuse us.
I don’t know that there is a foolproof way to always get it right and know when Satan is trying to trick us. He’s not going to wear a name tag for us. But I do know it helps to know God. His sheep know His voice. The more we know Him, the better we can distinguish what is from Him and what isn’t. The way we do that is to study his Word and pray. We can also seek guidance from a pastor or trusted Christian friends.
There’s a lot of white noise in the world today, Friends. A lot of people claiming to have the answers to all our problems. Be careful. The devil is real. These are not the days to let your guard down.
