A Soul Full of Trash, Part 2: the Scattering.
By Nathan
Last night something got into my trash. Raccoon, possum. Some kind of critter decided to toss a bunch of my trash out on the ground. It immediately struck me… This is exactly what the devil does when I try to repent and turn from my sin.
The devil doesn’t like repentance because it breaks the chains he uses to keep us captive. He wants us to wallow in filth the way he does. He can’t stand to see someone turn back to God, something he cannot do.
So he stirs up the trash. Digs around in it. Tries to remind me that I’m really just a sinner and will never be able to change.
Is the devil digging in your trash?
How do you know when the devil is rooting around in your garbage? The first sign is the renewed temptation to sin. You know the feeling… you’ve just decided that you were going to get rid of some garbage in your life. You threw out the magazines. Maybe emptied the bottles. You deleted her number. You feel like you’re ready to start a new chapter in your life.
But then that craving hits you. It wasn’t THAT bad, was it? It didn’t cause THAT much damage, did it? One more time won’t make that big of a difference.
If this sounds like the voice of addiction to you, you’re exactly right. The devil wants us to be addicted to sin, because that means that we belong to him. His main goal is to take my good intentions, my desire to repent, even my actual repentance, and turn them back into garbage.
The Voice of the Accuser.
Another way that the devil stirs up the trash is through guilt, condemnation, and accusation. “I’m never really going to quit sinning. Look at my life, I’m going to be stuck in this forever. I’m powerless to quit. I just need it too much. I’m too weak. EVEN GOD CANNOT SAVE ME!” These thoughts are just the devil’s attempt to break my resolve and keep me focused on what I’ve done wrong instead of trying to clean up my act.
The terrible thing is that a lot of what the evil one is saying is true. Well, half-true. I am powerless to conquer sin… WITHOUT GRACE. I am a slave to sin… EXCEPT I HAVE BEEN SET FREE. I am too weak… BUT HAVE BEEN EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. The devil specializes in half-truths. When he tells me the first half of a true statement, he can trap me in that feeling of powerlessness and sin if I choose to listen to him.
Cleaning up the mess.
Of course, I didn’t leave the mess all over the ground. Today is trash day. I took a few minutes, tossed all the junk back in the trash, and washed my hands. Victory over the devil comes when I humbly shake my head at the mess that my sins have made again and start cleaning up once more.
Jesus told Peter that he should forgive his brother 70 times 7 times. He wanted to show me the magnitude of God’s mercy. If I keep trying to repent, He will continue to forgive. He knows my weakness. He also knows my enemy. He’s been trapping raccoons a long time. Jesus will help me, but I have to listen to Him instead of my enemy.
Would you like to read more about how I fought the trash monster in my life? Check out my book, Demoniac, now available on Amazon.
