Ezer Standing III - Deception

‘All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe that we are away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out bait to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.’ – Sun Tzu, from The Art of War

How cold. How calculating. How hateful and hurtful. But this is how war is waged. This is how the enemy of our soul plans to overpower us. If we don’t know this, we cannot prepare to battle him.

The enemy has tried to take many things from me. He’s tried to take my children, my health, my marriage, even my life. He’s not fought fairly – if wars can be fought that way. I’ve overcome many battles. The Bible tells me that we overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

It appears that I’ve lost battles as well. But the war is not over. When Satan is near, he wants us to think he’s far away. When he’s using force, he wants us to think he has no power to use against us. When he’s about to attack, he wants us to think that he is unable to. When he is weak, he wants to convince us that we cannot win – that he is too powerful a foe to battle against. Deception.

Many who claim to believe in God – say they do not believe in a devil, they’re eating right out of his hands. If we are not even aware that we have an enemy, how can we possibly triumph over him?

We cannot live in fear, though. It’s merely a tool Satan uses against us. ‘Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.’ –Again, the Bible.