Yesterday, we prayed for our Father’s guidance to release us from our spiritual bondage, and to grant us healing because our emotional wounds have brought us tremendous harm and repercussions.  Our Lord Jesus Christ is our companion and the key to our healing; He has unlocked the door erected by the devil’s ploy, so that we may reclaim our confidence and courage to confront where it hurts, and gradually, unfetter ourselves from the bondage of the devil.  In truth, our Father has been patiently waiting with a broken heart just beyond the hidden room of our wounds, awaiting for our permission to let Him in, so that He can comfort, cleanse, heal and bless us.

Once we are on the journey of healing through our Father, and gradually let go of our hurts and emotional baggage, we will become empowered to confront the challenges before us.  Indeed, phenomena such as pandemics, wars, natural disasters, deterioration of moral values, social unrest and oppression, and so many other challenges deplete our will power and force us into despair.  As a result, we plunge deeply into grief, anxiety, pain and bitterness!  Our helplessness in changing reality has blinded us only to see the dark clouds ahead of us, thus losing fundamental hope for our future.  All these emotions are understandable, and, indeed, such is an accurate portrait of all of us living in the contemporary world.

Our Father knows, and how that breaks His heart!  We must recognize that we are not without hope.  This is because our Lord is a God of compassion, truth, and justice. He never wants to remain a bystander, but He needs our cooperation.

All adversities in history will eventually pass!  Wars will be over; pandemics will pass; even powers of darkness will not last forever.  This is not only a fundamental belief shared by humanity, in fact, particularly for all peoples of faith, this is also an irrevocable responsibility.  We are children of the God of justice and truth, and we have inherited God’s kingdom and authority. Therefore, we have the duty to lift Jesus high in our hearts and every corner of the world; the Christ, one true God, who is the way, the truth, and the life, so that His mercy and justice may be manifested until all darkness in the world is dispersed!  If we desire to fulfil this responsibility, we must be steadfast in upholding the right mindset and positive attitude.

Let us imagine that the Son of light and the son of darkness are characters in a play: a theatrical piece about the struggles between God and the devil.  Scenes of everyday lives, families, societies, and the world parade across the stage.  When friendship, unity, peace, and justice are at centre stage, all the saints in the audience cheer; contrarily, when hate, division, war and injustice appear on stage, the devil and all his entourage cry out in unison.

Many people may be afraid of the devil because he seems to be terrifying. Therefore, they avoid talking about him as if he doesn’t exist.  However, this is exactly the devil’s plot!  By staying hidden, he wants us to remain unaware of his existence so that he may do whatever he wishes in the dark.  Let’s not take his bait!  Let’s imagine: the devil can be likened to someone whose only goal is to terrorize the world.  In fact, he doesn’t deserve our fear!  The devil is only a fallen angel; a mere creature.  His power is incomparable to that of the All-powerful God. Indeed, if we don’t give the devil permission, he has no power over us or to harm us.  However, when we fall in our weakness, we grant power to the devil and the opportunity for him to control and manipulate us.

Contrarily, we must caution against the devil’s trickery, for in darkness, his tricks cannot be easily detected.  Therefore, we need to stay alert and pay attention to his power over our everyday life.

We must pay attention to our tendency of stumbling into sins because we may not be as clever, or shall we say, cunning, as the devil! The devil often takes advantage of the times when we stumble in our weakness. On the other hand, if we accept our weakness and take refuge in God, He will descend upon us and manifest Himself in us. In other words, only when we trust and rely on God that His almighty power may be manifested in us, deterring the advances of the devil, so that he may not dare to come close to us and have his ways. Therefore, one must take courage when confronting the devil. We can never defeat the devil by our own power, but only the Creator of the Universe, King of kings, our God and Abba Father, whose infinite might, through our Lord Jesus Christ, can grant us the authority to defeat and banish the devil and all his entourage, so that God’s glory and kingdom can be manifested. Such is the perfect conclusion to the play as the thunderous applause of the saints cheering for the final curtain call of Christ the King, triumphant.


Reflection

Have you been afraid of or avoiding the devil’s control and manipulation in your life and everyday living?  Have you subconsciously denied the existence of the devil?

Whether in the healing of past wounds or facing current challenges from the devil, do you believe that, all along, God accompanies us and awaits for our invitation to let Him walk with us and give us strength enough to tackle everything that comes our way?

Do you believe that placing our trust in God is key to conquering the devil?  Are you willing to take refuge in God and put yourself in His hands?


Today’s Prayer

Merciful and gracious Father, thank you for your constant companionship.  Little did I know that I have failed to invite You to come into the deepest recesses of my heart, to heal all my wounds and share my heavy burden.  I even hide myself from You and am determined to face everything on my own. Yet, You patiently wait for me even when it pains You.  Grant me the clarity of faith so that I will know Your presence in my life and put myself in Your hands with all my heart and all my will.  Please also help me understand the devil’s trickery, so that I will stand firm and not give him the opportunity to hurt myself, and in turn, hurt You.  For this I pray, in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.


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