I’ve been thinking about Satan. {Pleasant topic, right?}

If you take Job 1:7 and 1 Peter 5:8, what you have is one evil being who goes from place to place looking for people to torment. Just this past week, a lady in our small group made the statement, “Satan isn’t omnipresent like God.” I have to tell you, I had never thought of that before.

Satan is not omnipresent. He is only at one place at a time.

Satan is not omniscient. He does not know everything. He does not read minds.

It’s easy to build him up in our minds until we make him something more. Just the other day, while sitting around the dinner table, my five year old asked, “Mom, do you know everything?” To which I replied, “Yes, honey. Yes, I do.” To her small child way of thinking, her mama knows everything and can do anything.

A couple of Sundays ago, Pastor Jason walked by me and stopped to comment on something I had put on Facebook that week. As he walked away, my ten year old said, “Wow, Mom. You’re like famous.” To which I replied, “Yes, honey. Yes, I am.”

My point is that we do not always have an accurate view of things. We need to know Satan’s tricks and I can tell you one of his best ones. He is observant and he is patient. {Okay, technically, that’s two tricks. Whatevs.}

The two verses mentioned above tell us that he is walking and watching. To and fro. Back and forth. What is he looking for?

He is looking for the right time to strike.

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. – Luke 4:13

He had every intention of coming back. That is why Paul warns over and over that believers should be on guard and should stand firm. It’s why you have to know what you believe before the struggles come. It’s why you have to decide, on the front end, who you are going to trust when that trial comes. Because Satan is waiting for a good time. He is always planning his next attack. What is he looking for?

He is looking for you to be a little too busy for a quiet time.

He is looking for you to begin sleeping in instead of going to church.

He is looking for your Bible to get a little dusty.

He is looking for you to be a little overwhelmed with your responsibilities.

He is looking for a time when you are not as close to the Lord as you should be or have been. He knows when you’re tired or stressed or feeling guilty. So, he will try to make you feel a little more tired, a little more stressed, and a little more guilty. He likes to exaggerate feelings. Suddenly, a bad day seems to feel like a bad life. A bad mothering moment makes you feel like a bad mom. A fight with your spouse or parent or friend seems like the end of the world. A night or two alone turns into a heavy loneliness.

As moms, Satan sees those times when you feel overwhelmed. He sees that you yelled at your kid and are feeling a little guilty. He knows that the note your kid’s teacher sent home made you feel like a failure. He sees the way you lost your mind because your child bit into a pack of hot dogs at Walmart and you didn’t know what to do because you weren’t even going to buy hot dogs but you bought them anyway and then you got home and realized you didn’t even have any hot dog buns and could this day be any more awful. {Oh, wait. That was me. Hello, exaggeration, though.}

Please, ladies, stay in the Word. Not out of legalism. Not so you can check it off of a list. Not so you can take a cool picture and post it on Instagram. Stay in the Word because Satan is watching for a time when you’re weak. And a woman in the Word is no weak woman.