IN the life of a believer, there is no such thing as a coincidence. The moment you commit your life to Jesus Christ, you are drafted into a spiritual army. You face a vicious enemy—the Adversary—whose sole mission is to oppose God’s work in your life.
Defining the Adversary: The Nature of the Opposer
The Bible does not describe the devil as a cartoonish figure with a pitchfork, but as a sophisticated, relentless legalist and predator. He is called the Adversary (Greek: Antidikos), which literally means an opponent in a lawsuit.
He is Not Human
Unlike your human coworkers, neighbors, or even your harshest critics, the enemy has no physical limitations.
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He has no time constraints: He is willing to wait years to exploit a single crack in your character.
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He never gets tired: He does not require sleep or food. His "food" is the destruction of God’s children.
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He is not omnipresent: While he is not everywhere at once (unlike God), he operates through a highly organized hierarchy of "rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark world" (Ephesians 6:12).
His Core Objectives
The enemy’s strategy is built on three pillars: torment, frustration, and oppression. * Torment: Aimed at your mind and emotions (anxiety, fear, guilt).
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Frustration: Aimed at your purpose (delayed breakthroughs, broken equipment, canceled opportunities).
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Oppression: Aimed at your physical body and environment (sickness, heavy atmospheres, financial strangulation).
The Command to be Alert: 1 Peter 5:8-9
The Apostle Peter warns us: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” To be alert means more than just "knowing" the devil exists. It means living in a state of constant situational awareness. A soldier in a combat zone doesn't walk around with headphones on, oblivious to their surroundings; they are scanning the horizon for anomalies.
Why the Lion Imagery?
A lion does not attack the strongest member of the herd in broad daylight. It watches. It waits for the one who wanders off, the one who is distracted, or the one who is weakened. The "devouring" Peter mentions isn't always a sudden death; often, it is the slow consumption of your joy, your peace, and your testimony.
The Sober Mind
Being "sober" in this context refers to spiritual clarity. If your mind is clouded by the "intoxicants" of this world—materialism, bitterness, or compromise—you lose the ability to sense the enemy’s approach. A sober mind sees a "coincidence" for what it truly is: a spiritual probe.
The Science of the "Coincidence"
We live in a physical world, but it is governed by a spiritual one. When we fail to recognize this, we waste our energy fighting the wrong battles.
The "Technical" Attacks
Consider the common "glitches" of life:
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The Zoom Presentation: You have a career-defining moment, and suddenly the electricity goes out—only in your house.
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The Assignment: Your computer, which worked perfectly for years, crashes the hour before your final thesis is due.
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The Exam Migraine: You studied for months, but the moment you sit down to the paper, a blinding pain makes it impossible to focus.
If we view these as mere "bad luck," we respond with anger or resignation. But if we view them as spiritual interference, we respond with authority. These are tactical strikes designed to prevent you from reaching the next level of your calling. The enemy wants to frustrate you so deeply that you eventually give up.
Building the Hedge: The Law of Job 1:10
One of the most revealing passages in Scripture regarding spiritual security is found in the dialogue between God and Satan concerning Job. Satan complained:
"Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?" (Job 1:10)
This "hedge" was not a physical fence; it was a spiritual barrier that the enemy could see but could not cross. This leads to a vital question: How do we maintain our hedge?
The Role of Prayer
Prayer is the "fence-building" activity of the believer.
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Prayer is not just a request; it is a legal transaction. When you pray, you are inviting the jurisdiction of Heaven into your earthly affairs.
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Anything unprayed for is unprotected. If you do not commit your commute to God, you leave it to "chance." If you do not commit your technology, your health, and your children to God daily, you are leaving the gate to your property wide open.
The Power of Commitment
Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans." To "commit" in the Hebrew sense means to "roll onto." You are rolling the weight of your presentation, your exam, and your health onto God's shoulders. Once it is in His hands, the enemy cannot legally touch it without God's permission—and God only permits what He intends to use for your ultimate good.
The Mandate: "Pray Without Ceasing"
If the enemy is "unrelenting," our defense must be "unceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 is often dismissed as a poetic exaggeration, but it is a military necessity: “Pray without ceasing.”
This does not mean you are on your knees 24 hours a day. It means:
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Keeping the Line Open: Maintaining a constant internal dialogue with the Holy Spirit.
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Immediate Response: The moment a negative thought or a "coincidence" occurs, you address it in prayer immediately.
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Covering the Details: Praying over the small things—your internet connection, your mood, your focus—so that the enemy has no "small" cracks to enter through.
Practical Resistance: James 4:7
The promise of Scripture is absolute: “Submit yourselves then to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
The Order of Operations
Many people try to "resist" the devil without first "submitting" to God. This is dangerous. Resistance without submission is just human effort, and the enemy is much stronger than human effort.
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Submit: Align your will with God’s Word. Repent of known sin.
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Resist: Use the Word of God and the Blood of Jesus to command the enemy to back off.
Bathe Your Life in the Word
The Word of God is the only offensive weapon mentioned in the Armor of God (The Sword of the Spirit). When the enemy brings a migraine, you counter with: "By His stripes, I am healed." When he brings a technical failure, you counter with: "God will establish the work of my hands."
Walking in Authority
We must never forget that while the enemy is vicious, he is a defeated foe. Jesus Christ disarmed the powers and authorities at the cross (Colossians 2:15). Our job is not to win the war—Jesus already did that—our job is to enforce the victory.
Stop accepting "bad luck" as a way of life. Start recognizing the spiritual fingerprints on your daily frustrations. Bathe your life, your property, and your family in prayer. Remember that your struggle is not against the person who cut you off in traffic or the computer that won't start; it is against a spiritual force that is terrified of what will happen if you actually succeed.
Prayer Points:
1). Ask the Lord to forgive you for the times when you have not been alert and sober, and have allowed satan to torment, frustrate and oppress you.
2). Ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you every moment of your life.
3). Thank the Lord who has given us authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy!