Angi Aymond

I have a recurring dream.

It’s never quite the same dream, but this one component is always present: a snake bites me, and I try frantically to shake him off me, his fangs clinging fast to my arm, his body flailing.

Today, I woke up with this dream wreaking havoc in my brain. Again.

Walking to make coffee, I told the hubs about it. He laughed.

“You know. Snakes don’t hold on to you after they bite?”

“They do in my dreams.”

Sitting, having my second cup of coffee, I thought,

“Hmmm … sometimes in real life, too.”

Have you ever had a place in your life where the enemy just loves to come and hang out? 

He long delivered the initial bite with its poison. That venom made a wound. Maybe years ago. And even though that wound has healed now, too many times, the enemy sneaks in, hangs around, reminding you of that wound. He runs his scaly tail over the scar, hoping to re-open it. (Scars Jesus has promised to use for His glory if we let Him.)

The enemy’s plan is to make you focus on yourself. Your weakness. Your failure. His plan is to keep you stuck.

And like being trapped in a crazy dream, his hanging around keeps you in a cycle of regret and shame you can’t shake. And you can’t wake.

Well, we have no control over our dreams. But we do have control over our conscious thoughts. Sure, they often pop in uninvited, but once they are there, we can respond.

We can entertain them. Let them move in and make themselves at home.

Or we can check them at the door.

And I bet I don’t have to tell you which of these options is easiest. But entertaining them is only easiest at the start. Once they settle in, it’s much harder to shake them.

So, my friends, do you have a scar that the enemy loves to scratch?

First, be aware. Remember the scar and the things it taught you, however painful. But that wound is in the past, and it has been healed by the scars of Another.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

ISAIAH 53

Secondly, understand the enemy’s desperation. He knows you belong to Christ. But if he can keep you stuck on you, he can at least prevent you from living as though you belong.

Thirdly, when the enemy comes … oh, I love this quote from Tony Evans … “When the enemy comes to remind you of your past, remind him of his future.”

When he is determined to hang on, pierce him with the sword of truth, God’s word. (Caveat: You can only combat the enemy with God’s word if you have immersed yourself in it. Hidden it in your heart and mind. It’s never too late to begin.)

Lastly, find a friend or two who can speak truth to you when you don’t have the strength to fight by yourself.

I have scars the enemy loves to poke and prod. Perhaps you do as well.  I’ve learned to neither flaunt them nor hide them. But simply surrender them. 

Surrendered, they are for God’s glory. 

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2 CORINTHIANS 12