Satan's Favorite Question

 

In the late 90’s, the former Christian rock band, Creed, sold millions of copies of their sophomore album “Human Clay,” with the first hit off that album being the song “What If.”  The song goes, “What if you did? What if you lied?  What if I avenge? What if eye for an eye?’ The question of “what if” is one that can lead to another “what if” and to another, and another, and another, spiraling out of control with no answer to the original "what if".  A person can truly go mad trying to decipher all of the “what if’s” in life to the point of delusion.  Six letters in a seemingly harmless phrase can put a cavernous gash in your life the size of Barringer Crater.

Stare at the picture above for a moment.  After a few seconds, the spiral will begin to rotate, and you will begin to see specks of green, yellow, purple, red, and probably a few other colors that are not there.  The illusions that this image portray are simply that: illusions.  In the same way the constant what if’s in life can cause the mind to invoke scenarios that are far-fetched and non-existent.  If you were to draw a spiral, you notice that the tip of the spiral begins small, and as you draw in circles, over and over and over again, your circle becomes larger; larger, but still going in circles.  One can only go in circles for so long before crashing down.  The human body can only take so much dizziness.  But what was the reason for the fall? One small seed of doubt; one small "what if?"

When God created Adam and Eve, they had it made!  They were living abundantly in the Garden of Eden without a care in the world.  And what did they do?  They asked, "what if we ate the fruit?" They knew right well that God told them not to eat it, but as a defiant child, they did it anyway (Genesis  3).  Adam and Eve didn't trust God enough to know that he was serious in what he said.  "The serpent deceived me!" replied Eve as she hid behind a bush (Genesis 3:13).  We all know who the serpent was, and he will do the same to all of us the moment we begin to question God.

Though less often than not, doubt can be somewhat healthy.  When a father is doubtful of his daughter going on a date for the  first time, it doesn't meant that he doesn't trust her; it means he doesn't trust the boy.  God doesn't trust this world and it's temptations to His children, but upon salvation, he trusts us to make the right decisions against it.  If we confidently recognize that we are saved by Christ, then upon salvation, we were gifted with His Spirit (Acts 2:38); and if we are living by His Spirit, then there should be no doubt.  But, alas, we are all human and we were born into this world as sinners. Satan hates the truth.  If he can get his gnarly little demon hands on the smallest speck of doubt in us, he can completely turn our worlds upside down.  Satan jumps right in your ear the moment he knows you have doubt. 

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

Anorexia is one of the devil's favorite ailments.  Unlike other diseases, this disorder is self inflicted and it starts with a lie: "What if I look fat?"  This question has the ability to destroy a person physically, mentally, and spiritually.    Like a vehicle, the body needs fuel in order to function. Without fuel (food), the disease reaps havoc on the individual's bones, and then major organs like the heart.  Eventually the body starts eating away muscle tissue as a means to get this fuel.  As the body eats away at itself, giving into the lies of "fatty," so does the spirit as it moves further and further away from God.

"He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. " John 8:44

WHAT IF JESUS ASKED THESE QUESTIONS?

"What if just tell them I am the Messiah, so I can skip the cross?" 

"What if I just do a few more miracles so they will get off my back and believe in me?"

"What if I just abandon all of them, and go off on my own?"

 

Those of us who are saved know what the end result would be had Jesus asked these questions.  We would still be sitting in our filthy pit of self-righteous sin. But Jesus did not, and would not ever, ask any "what ifs" because he had not doubt that God would glorify Him, as He said he would (John 13:32). One question of doubt leads to another, to another, and yet another until we are not only questioning ourselves and our abilities, but God, too; which is exactly why the devil loves this question so much. Doubt fuels the fire of fear that leads to deceit.  This deception can lead to self hatred, resentment, and even hatred toward others.  These feelings can trigger psychological dysfunction such as anxiety and depression.  The more doubt we have, the more likely we are to become nervous, paranoid, and delusional. The longer we sit and stew in our own self-doubt, self-pity, and our circumstances,  the harder it for us to lean on God for support--we begin to lose trust in Him, who has no reason to trust in us, to do right by His Son.

Do you Really want to look like this?

Think of a stove that goes uncleaned for months.  It begins with a speck of grease. You think to yourself, "Eh.  That's not so bad, I'll clean it up tomorrow. I'm tired."  Tomorrow comes and goes, same excuse.  Tomorrow leads to tomorrow, to tomorrow, to tomorrow, and all of a sudden your once white stove has been neglected for weeks or even months.  

Or would you rather look like this?

Satan tricks us into believing that we are not worthy of being "washed as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18).  But God is like Oxy Clean: "BAM, and the Stain is Gone!" He keeps no record of our sins, even the most grievous of them ("Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1).  

We all looked as horrendous as that stove top before Jesus saved us.  Now, why on Earth would we want to revert back to the gross, greasy, sticky mess of who we were before we met Him? Because as humans born into sin, we still find ourselves giving into sin; even though we are saved, and the temptations of this world are still present.  The difference between who we were and who we are in Christ, however, is the Spirit who convicts us of our sins and makes us accountable for them (John 16:8).  Before we were saved, we justified screaming profanities and using suggestive hand gestures at that car that just cut us off while stuck in traffic, as acceptable behavior.

The Devil attacks when we are the most vulnerable because he is no match for God's strength and power when we are in the Spirit; he is weak against God, so he preys on the weak in sin.  But we have strength in Christ to confidently stand in front of him and rebuke his lies, in the name of Jesus (Philippians 2:9-11).  Jesus never doubted the Father, and God doesn't doubt those of us who are in his Son.  

 

Satan is that grease spot that turned into a disgusting sticky mess.  But for those of us in Christ, we can boldly put on our gloves of faith, spray the cleaner of Christ, rub away our messes with the scrubber that is the Holy Spirit, and be clean by the mercy and the grace of God! After all, cleanliness is next to Godliness, is it not?