Prof. Biju Issac

In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows (darts) aimed at you by Satan. -Ephes. 6:16 (TLB)

One of the weapons that Satan uses with a success rate of more than 99% is the fiery dart of ‘Doubt and Discouragement’. Many valiant young people give up their battle against Satan because they don’t know how to handle this deadly arrow which is more like a stealth missile in Satan’s armoury. The word of God pictures Satan as a roaring lion prowling around, seeking whom he may devour. The enemy is real and the battle is also real. To me the enemy is as real as God Himself.

You may ask, how will Satan fire a dart against you? For that we have to understand that the battleground of Satan is our minds itself. We hear three kinds of voices in our minds. One type has its origin in God, another in ourselves and yet another in Satan. Satan beguiles himself as an angel of light and deceives us with his close imitation to God’s voice . How can we identify these voices? The voice of God may correct us, exhort us and encourage us - eventually uplifting us. The voice of Satan accuses us and condemns us - eventually pulling us down into the mire of discouragement.

So what is the way out? The word of God says that a righteous man may fall seven times, yet he rises again. He knows how to get up after a fall. When you are in the pit of defeat can you follow the example of Micah the prophet? Here it is:

1. Decide to look to God:
Israel is filled with evildoers and lying prophets. Wicked rulers and prophets are at the helm of the nation. God is literally pleading with Israel and eventually proclaiming punishment for Israel’s sins.

During that period of inevitable judgment, prophet Micah proclaims - “I will look to the Lord: I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me - Micah. 7:7.

This can be seen as a prayer of the back slidden Israel as well as, that of prophet Micah. One of the greatest blows that Satan gives to a defeated man is to somehow turn his eyes away from God. Satan whispers into his mind that God may not accept him and he is beyond any ray of hope. Foolishly he agrees to Satan’s argument. But Micah says - “I will look..... I will wait ..... and my God will hear me.” What a confidence to approach God! This is exactly what the prodigal son also said -”I will arise and go to my father ... and will say to Him...” Well, we all know what a red carpet welcome his father gave him. Hallelujah!

2. Speak to Satan on his face:
What great challenge and assertion prophet Micah is making to Satan in saying - “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me -v.8.” Confession of faith is what would lead us to stability in our Christian walk. Remember that God has given us a spirit of sonship (adoption) by which we can cry out to Him in times of need as ‘Abba, Father or Daddy’, and that He has not given a spirit of slavery (bondage) to us.

A man of God has said that when we fall, we should be like bouncing balls, coming up spontaneously. On the contrary, some are like semi-solid gel that sticks to the ground when you drop it. They never seem to bounce up. Be bouncing up from your defeat, for God is waiting with arms wide open, like He received the prodigal son.

3. Honestly Acknowledge your sins:
Prophet Micah says with honesty - “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him -v 9.” It is honesty that took the thief on the cross to paradise, when he acknowledged his evil life. In fact he said that he is worthy of crucifixion. It is honesty that made King David a man after God’s own heart, when he owned up his sins of adultery and murder, to the extent of writing Psalm 51 as a memorial to his repentance.

It is honesty that led the immoral Samaritan woman at the well into God’s Kingdom, when she said she had no husband, as she was asked by Jesus to call her husband. It is honesty that qualified the swindlers and the prostitutes of Jesus’ time to enter into God’s kingdom than the dishonest and religious Pharisees, who never acknowledged their need for salvation.

4. Confidently come before God’ God’s s throne:
Jesus spoke of Satan as a thief who comes to steal and to kill and to destroy (Jn. 10.10). What is he trying to steal? He doesn’t need our money in any case, for he is the prince/ruler of this world. In fact he offered the whole world to Jesus, if Jesus were to worship him. Adam lost the ownership of this world to Satan when he sinned, which God had given it to him initially.

So he is trying to steal the ‘confidence and boldness’ that we should be having before God. Listen to what Micah says - “But then He (God) will defend my cause, and accomplish justice on my behalf. He will lead me out into the light; I will experience his deliverance first-hand -v.9.” We are urged to come boldly to the throne of grace, for Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses. Hallelujah! By the blood of Christ, we can enter into the most holy presence of God. If we lose that boldness, we are as useless as a dead soldier.

5. By faith, proclaim Satan’ Satan’s s defeat in that trial:
It is God’s will that Satan should be in his rightful place in our life. Where is that? Under our feet. Paul says that the "God of peace" can crush Satan under our feet. Even though defeat was on the horizon, remaining in the mire of doubt and discouragement, Micah says - “Then she who is my enemy (Satan) will see and shame will cover her ..... My eyes will see her trampled down like mire in the streets -v.10”
Do we understand such a language of triumph and faith in God? The enemy is not yet defeated in the context of the trial, yet the eye of faith sees it and proclaims his defeat.

In conclusion, Micah gets the revelation of a forgiving God - one who delights in mercy, and who casts all our sins into the depths of the sea (v. 18,19).

Dear friend, never forget that ‘doubt and discouragement’ originates from the pits of hell. You need never carry it. Satan got the first woman Eve into doubting God’s love and she fell into sin. Judas Iscariot got so discouraged and condemned about betraying Jesus that he committed suicide. Satan entered him before the betrayal. You see - Satan had a role in both cases.

I believe, if Judas had gone to the cross where Jesus was crucified and asked for forgiveness, he would have been totally forgiven. For Jesus had said that anything done against Him would be forgiven. Many follow Eve and Judas today and end up in disaster. Let’s learn to take up the shield of faith to stop all the fiery darts of the wicked one.