The back door

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to make a decision to change?  Folks start out determined to become a new person in one way or another.  But how often are we able to follow it through? 
 
You don't often hear people say that they are going to try to be more of a bully, or try to gain weight or even vow to drink more.  Most of the changes we want to make are to better ourselves.  To learn to be the kind of person that folks want to call their friend, show that special someone that we really do care about them or become better at something we do.  In the case of Christians, our goals almost always involve ways to change us into "better" followers of Christ.  The walk looks very much the same from a distance but up close each person may have some unique gifts or, on the other hand, challenges that mean that they have to tweak their pursuit a bit to help them stay on the path.

That's when Satan attacks.  He's been lurking in the background just waiting for us to become vulnerable so he can send a little nudge our way that will knock us into the ditch.  Hanging around the back door waiting for us to get comfortable.  His approach is actually very clever.  The attack isn't usually a frontal one but the sneaky, sidling, shadowy beginnings of doubt that get at us from the inside.  It begins to strangle our lifeline to Christ and in our weakness and inability to see things clearly, all it takes is a mere flick of a finger to send us meandering off the path that will bring us closer to Christ and nearer to the pit of despair.  And that's right where he wants us.  Cut off by our own blindness, we are unable to maintain the changes that would have made us just a little bit more like our Savior, draw us a little closer to Him and even those we wanted to show that we could be better friends or whatever.  So guess who wins that round!?

But lets hope its only a set back and not a gorge so deep that we can't find our way back.  Even so, the plan has been successful to a point.  Now we have to start again, repairing the damage done and trying to find our strength again so we can draw close to the One who carries us over the rocky cliff and points us down the path again.  We know that He's holding us in the palm of His hand as long as we are willing to be there.  If we take things into our own hands, well...He never stops loving us but we can make things pretty hard on ourselves and those around us when we lose sight of the goal.
Spiritual warfare is often hard to see so when the devious wiles of the prince of darkness start to draw us away, we must fight back!  We can't let him get us down.  God never promised that it would be easy but He did promise to go through it right by our side.  And He's suited us with the armor and weapons we need to stand our ground.  Ephesians 6:11-17.