Slap Attacks
I am the youngest of three children, which has had its advantages and its disadvantages. My siblings were seven and nine years older than me, so in a sense I felt like the youngest only child. When I was young, I was often the tag-along when my siblings had to watch me, which I’m sure they loved…NOT!!! This, along with everyday life, resulted in some sibling rivalry, especially with my brother.
Growing up my brother was mostly the antagonist, and with good reason. He loved to get a reaction out of me, and I almost always delivered. He would blame me for things that I didn’t do and make me cry. I would make snarky comments. He would roll me up in the hide-a-bed couch and sit on me. I would call him names. He would tease me relentlessly. I would react on cue.
As we got older, we got closer, and much of the verbal pettiness stopped. But somehow in my late teens my brother became amused by the slapping of my head. The more skirmish I was as I tried to wrestle away, the more fervent his attacks became. It was all in good fun, at least for him. I would scream and fight back, throwing a teenaged hissy fit temper tantrum!!! I continued to give him the reaction he wanted, getting all worked up. The head slaps continued for years. Honestly sometimes I would start it, but he almost always ended it! During these shenanigans we were at battle!
Fast forward a few years to when I had children. I was fortunate that my kids were mostly well behaved. As they got older, however, sibling rivalry developed. At times their bickering and hostility would permeate our house. I would get so frustrated. I tried to reason with my kids to not fight back, but that was futile. I bought Sock ‘em Boppers (large inflatable boxing gloves) and made them “bop” each other in an effort to diffuse the verbal attacks. I constantly told them that if they would just not react to each other’s jives, their sibling would stop antagonizing them. Regardless of my attempts to diffuse the situation, they just weren’t mature enough to process what I was telling them.
It wasn’t until I became a mother and dealt with my own children’s sibling rivalries that I realized the only way to stop my brother from slapping me was to just not give him the reaction he wanted. I remember it like yesterday. We were at my dad’s house and I was sitting on the bench in front of the pool. I was wearing a cream-colored sweater tank top and khaki shorts with my hair in a short bob. (These details are not important, but just noted to impress how vivid this memory is.) My brother came up behind me and started his slap attack. I just sat there…for what seemed like forever…and endured it. I didn’t even flinch. Finally, he stopped. His words were, “J, you’re no fun anymore.” I did it! I finally beat him at his own game by not reacting. I was triumphant!
How often can I say this about Satan’s attacks? Every day he bombards me with negative thoughts and deceptive lies. He does whatever he can to make me feel defeated. He is relentless in trying to make me doubt God’s goodness. He continuously tries to cripple my faith through worry and fear. He repeatedly slings my failures back at me in an effort to make me doubt my value in God’s eyes. He deliberately entices me with worldly desires and a hectic schedule so my focus will be taken away from God, and erroneously placed on myself, my doubts and my desires. He does this…Every. Single. Day.
With each of these attacks I have a choice. I can react with pride, fear, worry, anxiety or bitterness. I can feed his ego and fuel his plan of destruction on my life. Or I can “not react” to him, not even acknowledge him, and instead seek God for His peace, direction and will for my life.
John 10:10 tells us that the enemy comes only to steal, kill and destroy, and if I give in to his schemes, I will let him do just that – destroy me from the inside out. John goes on to say that Jesus came so that we may have an abundant life, a life better than we can ever dream of. (paraphrased ESV and MSG versions)
The more I seek God, through reading my Bible, prayer, stillness and genuine thanksgiving, the easier it is to resist the devil’s attacks. But I have to be diligent and I have to be deliberate. I have to be willing to set aside my desires, my tiredness, my excuses, my agendas, my pride and my doubts to seek God first. Each and every time I turn to God instead of reacting to the devil’s attacks, I can envision him saying, “J, you’re not fun anymore.” And oh, how victorious that is!
Dear Lord, thank You for being there to give me an abundant life filled with Your mercy, blessings, peace and love. Please help me to seek You first each day so that I can resist the lies of the devil. Please protect my heart and my mind from his attacks. Thank You for Your guidance and Your grace. Amen.
Verses for reflection:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NIV
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:8-10 ESV
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:11-18 NIV
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 4:3 NIV
