Your Adversary
It’s not the Sheep You Shepard
By Diane Nix
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. I Peter 5:8 (ESV)
A definition of an adversary is one who contends with, opposes, or resists. You and I are contending with a great adversary. Whether we acknowledge him or not. He is alive and very active. The American church has not prepared the body of Christ to deal with him. In my opinion, we mainly do not acknowledge him for fear that we will give him more attention. In reality, perhaps we don’t believe that he has that much power. I fear that we have left our pastoral families wide open for attack. We have devoted very little time to training our Ministry wives in spiritual warfare and how to engage without being non-biblical or ineffective.
For the past few days, I’m thinking of our battle. The days are evil. You and I must dress for battle and be ready on our knees with the sword of the Spirit. Our adversary is already defeated but acts as if he is not. As a defeated foe, he will wreak havoc as long as possible. His first and most powerful tool is to intimidate us and render us ineffective. His ultimate desire is to mock the One who is supreme to him. Our God is the Creator versus our adversary, a created being who became prideful and came against his Creator and our God.
Don’t think for a minute he will not come after you. You are your Creator’s most prize creation. Your adversary desires to discredit you and our God by destroying your witness and rendering you powerless. He is aggressive. I share this not to cause you more fear but rally you to be ready and prepared. We must become wise to his schemes and be willing to fight a good fight until our Lord takes us home or until Jesus returns. Sticking our heads in the ground is not an option, but standing up, suiting up, and storming the gates of hell is what we must be ready to do. Evil is advancing and desires to destroy the impact we have as ministry families.
I believe that we get plain scared, and we end up hiding. Leighann McCoy, the author of Spiritual Warfare for Women, is a Pastors’ Wife, Author, Women’s ministry leader, and Bible Study teacher. She says, “We rose to the top of Satan’s list when we married our (Pastor) husbands. Part of our call is to live the message in the spotlight. How much greater the damage to God’s kingdom when His pastors’ marriages fail!” I would add that the damage is equally significant when the Pastor or any family member fails.
We must be on alert. May it never be said that we gave ground to the enemy because we did nothing. So let’s address the areas Leighann has called to the forefront of our battlefield. She brings to light five areas that satan will target:
- Satan targets our marriages
- Satan targets our children
- Satan targets our friendships with other women
- Satan targets our health
- Satan targets our church
None of us are exempt. Ephesians 6:10-18 gives us instruction and the command of suiting up in “spiritual armor.” Sylvia Gunter, author of “Prayer Portions,” has written a prayer for praying on the armor. You can find it in her smaller book, “ For the Family.” An excellent resource for you and me as we battle on our knees.
Without recounting recent events, you and I know our nation and world are on a slippery slope. When crises arise, most women I know spring into action. Ladies, the most important action we can take is to fall on our knees in intercession. We must take up the armor and begin interceding daily for our husbands, children, girlfriends, health, and church. We must become strategic in our prayer time and not stop until He takes us home.
In the movie “War Room,” there is a scene where the primary intercessor, a woman in her prayer closet, is praying. She ends her prayer with these words, “Raise them, Lord, up! Raise them up!” Ladies, I’m calling you out! We must clear everything else away and pray as we have never prayed before. We were born for such a time as this! Will you join me in interceding for our world today?
I am praying for you! Stand firm! The battle is upon us, and there is a world to win to Jesus!
Diane
Meet Diane
Diane is the director and founder of Contagious Joy 4 Him, a network of encouragement to ministry wives around the globe. Thirty-six years ago, she married her husband, pastor/professor, Dr. Preston Nix. He is a professor of evangelism and evangelistic preaching at NOBTS. They have two biological daughters, two spiritual-grown daughters, two grands, and two son’s in-laws.
Diane’s life bears the scars of addiction, abuse, loss, and dysfunction. She remembers being drawn to spiritual things. Searching for the One who could bring peace, she found her Savior, Jesus Christ! And soon after her salvation, she surrendered to ministry. She has never looked back!
Diane has lost all material possessions on two different occasions. Once by a house fire and another by Hurricane Katrina. She has survived a life-threatening illness, with aftereffects that still impact her today. A speaker and author of the book, When God’s Woman Wants to Give Up! Diane sheds light on “never giving up” amid trials. She is also a contributing author to LifeWay’s Ministry to Women blog, and most recently Broadman and Holman’s Daily Devotional for Women and The Psalms and Proverbs Devotional for Women. She is an author, speaker, vlogger, and blogger. Connect with her personally on Facebook and Instagram, or her ministry at Facebook and Instagram.
