He doesn’t know our thoughts, but
he can certainly see when we start
entertaining sinful possibilities and
flirting with compromise.
Her emotions were so deeply entangled
with another man that she felt as if
she would die without him. But at the
same time the weight of guilt and
shame was slowly squeezing the life
out of her. She felt utterly destroyed,
trapped, and miserable.
Sin is such a lie. It promises to fill
the gaps of our disappointments with
satisfaction. In reality, it just goes
straight to our hearts and fills them
with shame. If only we could see from
the outset what the choice of sin will
do to us. As Ravi Zacharias said, “Sin
will take you farther than you want to
go, keep you longer than you want to
stay, and cost you more than you want
to pay.”
Yes, sin is a lie, and its subtle
suggestions are being whispered into
your ears and mine right now by the
one with death on his breath. But we
don’t have to simply sit and take it,
20 • Solutions
trying our best not to listen. We can do
something about it.
The thing that has helped me so much
is to study exactly what the enemy
wants to do to me. I’ve heard it said
before that we shouldn’t focus on the
enemy. And I agree. We shouldn’t focus
on him, but we should fight him. And
God’s Word gives us powerful insights
to better understand the enemy’s
tactics, which are very worth studying.
After all, if God made sure it was
written in His Word, then we need to
make sure to read it and understand it.
Once we do, we can be better equipped
to counter the enemy’s attacks.
Let’s take a closer look at what the
enemy wants to do to you and my
friend and to me this very day:
• Tempt — As I said, the enemy can’t
read our minds. However, he can study
our patterns and hear our expressed
disappointments. He knows our
disappointments create pain and our
brains demand some- thing to ease
every ache. This is a perfect doorway
through which Satan can enter in with
his evil enticements and temptations.
• Deceive — God is the author of the
Truth that empowers us. Satan is the
author of the deception that imprisons
us. And once he’s isolated us and
imprisoned us, his plan is to destroy
us. There is no freedom in sin. There
is a quickly fading thrill with sparks
and fireworks, but then darkness
envelopes, and you realize the party is
in a prison cell.
• Accuse — No matter how alluring his
lies are at first and how much they may