While digging out a negative thought, I came upon an unexpected core root. I discovered a fear... that was not my own.
I found a Fear of God, and a Fear of being undone by God. Yet at the same time, I knew it was not MY fear. It was the adversary's.
That confused and confounded me. Why would *I* feel this Fear? My overactive imagination unleashed all sorts of twisted and deranged possibilities.
Setting aside the potential Hollywood blockbuster plot line, I turned to the simplicity of prayer, as well as confirmation and understanding outside/beyond myself. And I discovered something that applies to every single human being living in this world.
Satan (a.k.a. the devil, the adversary, the enemy, etc.) actually does FEAR God. He also fears being undone/unmade by God. This fear fuels his hatred and is the primary drive for trying to separate humanity and God.
Satan weaves his OWN fears into humanity, using them as a base to manipulate our thoughts and perceptions. This is seen in many different ways.
Greed arises from a fear of loss.
Gluttony is the over-reaction to a fear of hunger or not receiving that which satisfies. Envy develops from
a fear of not receiving or receiving less than another. Hubris is driven by fear that one's worth will not be recognized. Wrath/pre-emptive strikes are the result from a fear that another will attack. Lust is a perversion of the fear that one will remain incomplete and undesired.
Apathetic listlessness (often labeled "sloth" or "acedia") is also a form of fear; one's subconscious thoughts make one afraid to take a risk, step forward or even simply act. This ranges from shyness to incapacitating fear of failure. Thus one does not act at all... letting the waves of life take them where they will, as the person sinks into depression and/or anxiety.
If we dig deep enough on a negative thought/motivation, we discover that the core root is doubt or fear. And Doubt is only Fear in nicer clothing. These are very real and VERY strong. But, ultimately, they are not ours. This is not as humanity was created to be.
Humanity, however, acts upon those fears, and the lies that are woven over them. When we do, we experience things that enforce those fears, and even support the lies, from our own perspective. The root becomes further buried and ingrained in a person, so that the person can no longer see the root but only rare glimpses of negative thoughts (see prior post).
Once the root is taken away, much of what supports the fears crumbles, making it harder for new dark thoughts to take root.
This line/paragraph:
ReplyDelete"Satan (a.k.a. the devil, the adversary, the enemy, etc.) actually does FEAR God. He also fears being undone/unmade by God. This fear fuels his hatred and is the primary drive for trying to separate humanity and God."
Really aught my attention, I think it's one of those lines that will stick with me & I'll be using when I describe The Adversary. I say this because not many people know this, they think Satan is just a bad guy who got bored being good, they don't see the fear behind all that. Any moment now Satan will be defeated & that strikes fear knowing his life is written out.
I think he uses this fear for humanity, particularly God's children (His chosen few, those really close to Him, & those who have just been found) because He wants to be closer to God, to hurt Him more, to take advantage of His holding hand more; time hasn't arrived for Satan to be defeated, but every waking moment it gets closer. He's using fear, doubt, greed, sloth, lust, all these things to drive people away from God because he wants to feel like the higher power.
I personally think people ct on these emotions because they feel it's normal, it's part of life. (It is) but they're ways to break it, & to not let it overcome you.
In one big sum up, Satan is just afraid.
Sorry for the long paragraph, I just wanted to leave a comment :) lol.