I think far too many people just nod their heads when somebody tells them that Satan did something directly related to a situation in their lives. I think if they were really honest with themselves, they would admit they didn't believe it. It seems to me that most people who believe in the Christian definition of The devil honestly just believe he does random acts of messing-you-up. After all, he is nothing more than a lion seeking out who he may devour, right?
Well, I'm not so sure that means he only runs around looking for vulnerable people to frustrate. He's out there getting at whoever he can, but I believe he's focusing on "stronger" people. I suppose he knows if he can crack somebody strong, then he can more effectively influence a lot of other people who look up to that person.
Another thing ol' Beelzebub likes to do is build you up and suggest that you're doing just fine in your daily walk. Pretty much his favorite thing to do is convince you to start thinking, "Hey, I know I'm a sinner and everything, but I've pretty much rid myself of that particular sin -- oh yeah, and with God's help, of course. But lately, I've been really good at keeping myself out of trouble." Man, that's about the worst thought to be thunk. You think you're no longer vulnerable there, so you go ahead and take that peice of armor off... BAM! You're hit, and right where you thought you were invincible. The thing about Satan is that once you're exposed, he's really accurate. Once he's got your pride pumping, all he has left to do is broadside you with the very thing you think you've got under control, and you can count on the attack happening within 24 hours from when you start thinking you're slightly better than a few of your friends in that regard. Then you fall to the attack and feel really stupid.
"Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it." -- The Message Translation
But there are two things to do at that point. You can feel like an idiot and think that God didn't care enough to keep Satan from messing you up. Or, you can know that what Satan means for evil, God could very well mean for good. If you realize that you were already sinning in your pride, then you can know that God needed to show you that you really aren't as close to perfect as you might have thought. The good news is that once you admit that fact, you're back on your feet and walking a lot more parallel to the narrow way than you were before.
Anyway, that's kind of been on my mind lately because something of that nature happened to me recently.
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So, the things that have been going on in my life are as follows:
I started assistant coaching in First Lego League (FLL) a while back. Basically, I'm there to help guide kids (around age 10) through an unbelievably complicated, strategic, and mind-bending national competition involving Lego robotics. It's pretty complicated, so if you're actually interested in seeing the challenge this year, just go to this year's challenge website.
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/default.aspx?pid=29550I got my drivers license in August. I didn't need a license all summer, even though I could have gotten it, but didn't because nobody likes to pay insurance when someone doesn't need their license. But it's pretty cool how once I got my license, I suddenly needed it for my job on Mondays, writing and composition class on Tuesdays, physics class on Thursdays, FLL on Fridays, and whatever else I need to do whenever. Currently, I can count on driving solo at least four times a week.
I got that job back in August. I'm paid $8/hour for various construction work. Various as in everything from electrician's work to framing to building block walls to plaster to stucco to landscaping to whatever. I'm working for a man in my church, which is cool. The coolest thing, though, is that I pretty much work whatever hours I want, as long as I let people know in advance. Currently, I work 9-10 hours on Mondays, and that's it. Just enough to make some dough and do some honest work. I'm just too busy right now to work any other days, so I just work all day on Mondays.
I went to that Christian music day thing at Carrowinds. I saw Thousand Foot Crutch, Barlow Girl, TobyMac, and the first few songs from Relient K (had to leave early). Some friends were kind enough to invite me with free tickets, so I went. As a result, I can proudly say I rode all the rollercoasters except the Borg Assimilator (which is only for stuntmen, crash test dummies, and people with a deathwish). I can also say I was unimpressed by Thousand Foot Crutch's show (all the songs sounded the same), I was impressed by Barlow Girl's show, I was unimpressed by Toby's show until he and the band did Jesus Freak as an encore -- that was incredible, and I can say I was thoroughly impressed by Relient K.
When Relient K was setting up for their "fell in love with the 80's" song, they introduced it by playing the first verse and chorus of "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears (great 80's song/band). They were really true to the spirit of the song, and yet, updated the sound from pure 80's to just plain good. So, I'm kind of into Relient K lately.
Currently, I'm really hating how small insects just love to fly all over the screen when you're in a dimly lit room at night.
