by Shae Cooke, September 26, 2005

Matthew 13:24-31

I love autumn; the brilliant colors, the abundant harvest, the return of a cold nose, and morning frosts on the grass that catch the dew and sparkle like diamond webs. It's an almost perfect season, except for Halloween. Like an ebon veil, it overshadows all that is beautiful about fall. It shrouds the colorful season like a dark cloud.

Never is the enemy more apparent than at Halloween; ghosts and goblins, devils and witches, satanic worship and witchcraft, and spells and curses. It's a time I even turn off the television because the commercials for upcoming satanic or horror shows and movies disturb our family. I don't want any of it in my home.

But Halloween does inject a fresh awareness of the spiritual forces of evil in this world (Ephesians 6:12). There is a battle waged that we don't see. The enemy disguises himself to snatch away the harvest.

The enemy is like a weed. He infiltrates through cracks and openings to catch us unaware, not only at Halloween, but relentlessly, all the time, and everywhere. I took the photo of the weed shown here, this morning. For all of my relentless gardening, I found it just outside my doorway. How did I overlook something so big and ugly? I practically had to step over it.

Satan has done a great job of getting us to overlook him. We dismiss the idea of spiritual battle because we can't see it. But the Bible tells us it's happening. We don't often give Satan serious consideration, because especially at Halloween he's portrayed, or we see him as a harmless cartoon character with a pitchfork and horns. He disguises himself in so many ways. In biblical times, "bearded darnel" was a common weed in Palestine. As it grew, it resembled wheat. The only way to tell it apart was when the wheat developed its head. The weed also was prone to mold, and became poisonous to eat, so if it was processed with the wheat, it would contaminate the entire food supply. Of course Satan wants to destroy the harvest, and the seeds; the Church, and more often than naught, he does it subtly.

His works are evident today, even in the body of Christ. He's very real and cunning and often we enable him, or facilitate his cunning. How? By using him as a scapegoat; as a way to sidestep our responsibility or excuse our behavior. It's a "the devil made me do it" mindset. On the other hand, we do things in the name of Christ, but don't act Christ-like in our actions. But having those mindsets is dangerous, because we open the doors for him to destroy our character and attack our weaknesses. We have to be alert, and practice restraint.  The enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Here are some examples:

The enemy shrouds the sanctity of life by causing us to consider that freedom to make decisions about our own bodies, (disguised as abortion or mercy killing), is more important.  However, we as Christians can't remain silent on these issues. These terrible heartbreaks won't go away by themselves. Terry Schiavo died an agonizing, slow death, starved and withheld water, and the world watched her die. Millions are aborted each year. We have to argue for the rights of every life, and do so in a Christ-like way; not vicious, or violent, but with love and compassion, much prayer and intercession. Satan often tries to encourage us to work on our own strength instead of God's, and when we do so we open the door to fanaticism or zealotry and so we hinder rather than advance God's work as the world dismisses us. It's our actions, not our explanations that people are watching. We can't act in a Christ-like way on our own strength.

.

The enemy wants us to become complacent about same-sex marriages, rather than persistent and uncompromising with love and tenderness. He creates a comfort zone that many of us don't crossover. On the other hand, many in the church are battling issues on their own strength and weakening our cause. Jesus said we were to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves (Matt. 10:16).

We cannot force morality without hurting the cause of Christ. If people see anger, they won't see love. If they see aggressiveness, they won't see humility. If they harshness, they won't see tenderness. 

When we draw close to the Lord, and seek His paths and His direction, rather than take our own tack, we lesson the chance of hurting Christ's name and increase the advancement of His kingdom.

Love will always soften the hardest of hearts. When we take up a cause, it's God's love that wins the battle, not the world's methods. Be like Jesus to get rid of the weeds. Hate the accuser, but love the accused. Tenderness and mercy, love and gentleness will bring the sheep home and out of the evil one's clutches.

Ask God to open your spiritual eyes to see and recognize the warfare and the enemy's subtle tactics. Pray and intercede. Spend time with the Truth. Seek to grow in your faith and in your walk, and practice patience for an abundant harvest.