Fearlessly forward – Day 2

In the early hours of May 2, 2011, a special unit of the U.S. Navy SEALs known as NAVY Team 6, reached the hiding place of terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan by helicopter. A strategic attack was carried out and forty minutes later, the team left the site with Bin Laden’s corpse in a bag.

For a decade, every possible clue to track down Bin Laden was followed up and people close to him were arrested and questioned. The breakthrough, however, came in August 2010 when a phone call from one of Bin Laden’s messengers was intercepted. The messenger’s phone signals was traced and led the special unit to Bin Laden’s hideout. Hereafter, modern technology was used to monitor the hiding place. An identical hideout was built in America in which NAVY Team 6 trained for the planned attack. When the time was ready, the attack was launched. Calculated. Strategically. Successful.

Satan is our enemy. Like the Americans kept a close watch on Bin Laden’s hideout, the enemy watches our lives. In John 10:10 we read: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy …” Satan’s attacks on our lives are also strategically and carefully planned. He wants to hit us where it will hurt most.

Job is an example of this. He had a nice house, a lot of possessions, a big family and also a wonderful relationship with God. Satan did not like it. It especially frustrated him that his attacks on Job did not work, because God had a wall of protection around him, his family and possessions (Job 1:10). However, there was one weakness: Job feared that something bad would happen to his family and possessions. Job must have spoken about it, because when Satan had an opportunity to test Job’s faith, he hit him where it would hurt most. In Job 3:25 we read Job’s words after he lost everything: “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.”

What fears do you nurture in your life? Are you afraid that something bad might happen to your children or that your spouse might be unfaithful? Do you fear that your family might be in a car accident or your business close down due to bankruptcy? Do you talk about your fears often? Remember, the enemy listens to your words. In 2 Timothy 1:7 we read: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” And in the second part of John 10:10, Jesus himself reminds us that He came to give us life in abundance.

When we allow fear to be stronger than our faith in God, we become an easy target for the enemy. Let us rather stay focused by reminding ourselves (and the enemy) of who God is and also that He has the final say in every situation. When He puts a wall of protection around you and your loved ones, no flaming arrows of the enemy will touch you.