Meandering - Cheat the Devil

“…the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.” Esther 7:10

Our church sign read a few weeks ago, “Tis no sin to cheat the Devil.” The Evil One, without question, is far more powerful and cunning than any of us, but he’s no match for our God. There’s nothing better than when God turns the table on the Devil’s nefarious schemes, and he ends up hanging himself on the very gallows he intended for the faithful.  

For example, the Evil One works to stir up people in your workplace to mock and ridicule you, or subtly snub and humiliate you, because of your love of Jesus. The fear of continually being maligned and marginalized tempts you to compromise your biblical standards in order to be more accepted by your peers. Yet, through prayer you decide to just be yourself, who you are in Christ, and, whether they ultimately like you or not, you endeavour to keep being kind and gracious to them. As a result of not caving in to the Evil One’s intimidations in your workplace, your peers, seeing you won’t compromise, retaliate, or look down your holier-than-thou nose at them, lighten up and actually start to seek you out for prayer and counsel.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Genesis 50:20

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

Again, the Enemy of your soul is not to be taken lightly. Neither are you to continually cower in fear of him and his schemes. Our protection and peace are in Christ alone. What happens when a terrifying Rottweiler suddenly comes barking after you, and just before it over takes you it’s jerked back into the air and falls hard to the ground? Well, once your heart starts beating again, and you realize that it had reached the end of it’s very secure chain, you kind of chuckle. Similarly, God’s Word tells us that the Devil is also on a short chain (Job 1:12). So when his intimidation tactics fail to turn you from Christ, but instead others, through your faithfulness, come to Christ, it’s like he too is jerked back and falls on his face. This is to cheat the Devil, and it’s certainly no sin, but rather glorious to maybe even have a good chuckle at the Devil’s expense. 

Thanks for meandering along with me,
Pastor Daniel