Steven Furtick - Why The Devil Attacks You?
This is an excerpt from: The God Of After
If you're not paying attention to the patterns in your life, you are easy prey for the Enemy. You have to get into Spirit-led reflection where the Holy Spirit takes you back through your day and shows you ways you can handle things next time, not so you can blame what happened in your day or in your life but so you can beat it next time, because there will be a next time. If the Devil hasn't messed with you, good news: you can practice this message very soon. He'll mess with you again. You're like, "I don't know. He has just been leaving me alone. I don't really need this message".
Keep this message right there. Don't put it in the fridge, because you're going to need it. You can leave it right there. It's going to be right there soon. He's looking for someone to devour. He's looking for somebody, somebody who's vulnerable. You have to ask the question, "What came before this attack that caused me to be in a vulnerable position"? That's a great question to ask. The more you ask it, I believe, the more God will show you and give you an awareness and an alertness.
You can't prevent the attack, but you can plan for it after. I don't usually respond right in the moment, but it's when I go back and ask the question, "God, what do you want me to see about that that I can know next time?" and that's how I grow. It's not fancy. I know it's not amazing. It's not sexy, but it's what Peter said. He said, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone…"
Who's he looking for? Someone. Someone he can devour. You have to ask the question, "If the Enemy is attacking me right now, how is he attacking me? When does he tend to attack me"? I want to be alert to this. I don't want to be ignorant of his schemes. When does he attack me? How does he attack me? What are those access points where I let him get to me? What are the things? That is a valid question, and we have to ask it or we'll keep repeating the same patterns, but there's another question I want you to start asking. I want you to ask this question right after you ask, "Where is the Enemy attacking me"? Because you could mention a few areas today.
I know you could. If we passed the mic around and you were honest and weren't scared of being judged, you could name a few places he attacks you. They might be some areas that are more socially acceptable or they might be some areas that cause shame, but you could answer the question, if I asked it, "Where is it that the Enemy attacks you, and what usually comes before it that causes you to give in to it, that makes you weak for it? What is that"? But there's another question I want you to learn to ask, and I think this is also very powerful. If the Enemy is attacking you as much as he's attacking you in your life, I want to ask the question…What is it about you that he knows that is causing him to attack you like that?
If he's looking for someone to devour, and he's picking on you, then what is it about you that causes you to be a target? In other words, how many of you feel like the Devil has really been after you or someone you love in this last season? This is not a trick question. I really want to see who to aim this spit at when I preach it. I want to know. If the Enemy is attacking you like that, what is he after? What is it that God has inside of you that may even be unknown to you right now that he sees about your future that is causing him to fight you so hard like that? What is this spirit of heaviness that has been on you lately really about?
I know on the surface we tell ourselves, "Well, the reason I'm depressed is because I just suck, because I'm not much, because I don't have the resilience. I don't have the fortitude. I don't have the moral character. That's why I'm dealing with this insecurity". Is it? Is that why you're dealing with the insecurity…because you're really a nobody? Or is the Devil looking for someone, someone who has something, something they don't see the true value of yet, so he can catch you in your vulnerability so that you never see your true value so that you never do what God gave you to do on the earth? What's he after?
If you've been discouraged, really discouraged and down in your soul lately, and you've been thinking, "That must mean my best is behind me," is that really true or is there something…? I'm just curious. Is there something so significant in the next stage of your life, and you can't see it? Maybe the Enemy has more vision for your life than you do because he sees something that's in you in a seed form, and if it ever comes forth, if it ever gets watered, if it ever gets light, if it ever gets full grown, it's going to spread out and bear fruit and touch lives and change the world. What's he after? Get really good at answering how the Enemy is attacking. "Well, he's giving me these headaches". "Well, he's giving me these problems on my job". "Well, he's surrounding me with these people". "Well, nobody gives me credit".
Okay. We can focus on how he's attacking you or we could spend a minute and think about why. What is he after? In my life, the greatest seasons of temptation to quit were just before the most significant moments of breakthrough. I came to prophesy to somebody today. I don't care what it has been before. I didn't come to preach about the God you knew before. I didn't come to preach about the time you wasted last year. I didn't come to preach about how your week went last week. It's Sunday morning, and I came with a message about the God of after. It's just a question. Ask your neighbor, "What's he after"?
The Enemy doesn't have unlimited artillery, so if he's coming at you, and he's shooting at you, that must mean you have something he wants. That must mean you have something of value. I've been to about 10 Carolina Panthers games since I've lived in Charlotte. Nobody ever tackled me. I guess I didn't have anything they wanted. I bet if I had that ball and I was on that field and I was headed toward something that could actually inflict damage on the opponent, I'd get tackled. I'd get hit. Some of us aren't getting hit because we're not headed toward anything, but if you're headed toward something… Maybe that's why he has been on your heels. Maybe that's why it has been kind of rough. Maybe that's why it has been kind of rocky. Maybe that's why that storm has been blowing.
I wonder what he's after. I wonder what you're carrying that you're not even aware of yet. I wonder what you're going to be talking about a year from now that you don't even know how to ask him for yet. It's powerful, y'all. Has that Devil been after you? Well, get happy, because that means you have something worth attacking. That means it's not over for you. The Devil should have taken you out before you heard this sermon, because after this word, you're back on track! You're back in the fight! We should have taken a selfie before I started preaching so you could have a before picture. Because when you leave this church today… No, no. I have to preach it like God gave it to me. I can't mess it up. "And the God of all grace, who called you to eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while…"
Set your timer for a minute, Fly Ty. One minute on the timer. One minute on your phone. Tell me when you've got it set for one minute. I want one minute. Peter uses a very significant phrase. He says, "After you have suffered a little while…" How many of you have been suffering for a little while? Or it has been a while. "It has been a while I've been dealing with this. It has been a while that I've felt like this". He still hasn't started his timer yet. He's about to start it in a minute. Sometimes it's prolonged suffering. Right? Sometimes you asked a question like… I asked the Lord one time. I read that Scripture. It said, "In a little while". "After you've suffered a little while". I asked God, "How long is a little while"?
I want one minute on the timer. That's an hour. I need a minute. We have a different definition of a little while. I need the countdown timer, not the count-up timer. I need the alarm where it's going to go off in a minute. God gave me something to say to somebody, and I don't know who it is. (We have 50 seconds left.) Now, not all suffering ends in a short time, but there is a decision you can make in a moment where you can say, "You know what? I have stayed stuck in this season long enough. I have replayed this memory long enough. I have laid down and died long enough". Peter says, "After you have suffered a little while…" Just a little while. It's just a little while. It's only for now.
I know it seems like forever when you're going through it, but… Ten seconds, nine seconds, eight seconds, seven seconds, six, five… Be really quiet. Oh, his ringer is off. You are the worst illustration partner. All right. Since his alarm failed, I need you to help me. I'm going to need you to help me. Since his ringer was on silent, I'm going to need you to be the alarm for your neighbor. Stand up. We're getting ready now, because it has been a minute for some of you. It has been a minute since you've felt the joy of the Lord. It has been a minute since you've seen yourself in the future. It has been a minute since you've opened yourself up to a new possibility.
When I say, "Three," I want you to look at your neighbor and say, "It has been a minute". One, two, three. It has been a minute. But guess what? Look back at them and say, "It has been a minute". Tell them, "It has been kind of hard. I've been crying about it. I've been stressing about it. I've got a lot of questions about it, and I'm not expecting a quick fix". But tell them, "It has been a minute, and this is my after". This is my after! This is my after! The problem is not over yet, but my eyes are set. My eyes are set. This is my after. Not when I'm perfect, but I've suffered enough to know now that he's the God of after.