Be On The Lookout For Satan

"Be careful!  Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.  Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.  remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are."  1 Peter 5:8-9

The Devil, he's very sneaky.  You always have to remember this.  He knows when to attack, how to attack and even how to make it look like he's not attacking.

The Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation goes into more detail about 1 Peter 5:8-9.  Here's what it says in the footnotes:

Lions attack sick, young, or straggling animals; they choose victims who are alone or not alert.  Peter warns us to watch out for Satan when we are suffering or being persecuted.  Feeling alone, weak, helpless, and cut off from other believers, so focused on our troubles that we forget to watch for danger, we are especially vulnerable to Satan's attacks.  During times of suffering, seek other Christians for support.  Keep your eyes on Christ and resist the Devil.  Then, says James, "he will flee from you."  (James 4:7)

Attacking a parent of a child with autism can be so easy for Satan.  He knows our weaknesses.  He knows how to plant that tiny little seed, aka doubt, into our heads so we give up.  He knows how powerful our God is and how at any moment of any given time God can heal our children.  Therefore, Satan will do everything in his power to keep us as far away from God's Will as possible.

Here are some examples of how Satan can plant that seed of doubt in our minds, aka lies, that grow and grow and take us further away from God:

1.  My son is not where I thought he would be at this age.  He will never get better.
2.  My child had such a wonderful week than had a huge meltdown this morning.  This will never get easier.
3.  No one knows what I'm going through.
4.  I have no one to talk to who would understand me.
5.  My marriage is failing because of autism.
6.  I am failing as a parent.
7.  My daughter will never talk.
8.  I don't understand why this happened to me?  Why us?
9.  Will my son ever have a friend?
10.  My child will never be able to "catch up" with his peers.

Satan has a way of causing mass confusion in our minds.  Do you know why?  He doesn't want us to hear God speaking to us.  He knows that as long as he has our attention and consumes us with the lies listed above and many more than we are full of worry, doubt, sadness and can't even look up to God.  You see, everything listed above are lies.  They are not true.  Satan knows our weaknesses and where to strike to get us to worry.  One little thought that comes into our head that Satan plants there can us away from God's Will.

What do we do?  How do we, as parents with children with autism, not worry?  Not doubt?  Not constantly think about the future and what it may or may not hold?  We pray.  We take these thoughts that cause worry and give them to God.  We find other Christians that "get autism" and lean on each other and lift each other up and remind each other how powerful God is and He will never, ever leave us.  We read our Bibles.  We remind Satan that he has no control over us and will not ever take control of our lives, our children's lives and the Will that God has for us.  Most importantly, we need to be on the lookout for Satan.  We need to be aware and take notes of when and how he attacks each of us personally.  That way, he can never catch us off guard.

Dear Lord,
We thank yo so much for planting this idea of studying 1 Peter.  It's been a wonderful to hear Peter encourage us all during our times of hardship.  Please help us all have eyes on the lookout for Satan and give us a heart to always lean on each other and always be there for each other.
In Your Name We Pray,
Amen