As believers, our battle with the enemy begins in our mind.
Temptations, doubts, fear, etc., all begin in the mind.
One author wisely wrote,
“Our feet, hands and bodies follow where the mind leads us. It is in our minds that we remember, we understand, we make decisions and we evaluate truth from fiction… [So naturally] the battleground with Satan is the mind.”
The devil sends thoughts (darts/arrows) that are tailor-made for us, crafted uniquely for individuals. The arrows he aims at me are not the arrows he aims at you. He crafts them specifically for those areas in our lives in which each of us uniquely struggle.
Do you have issues with self-worth? That’s where the devil is going to aim. Impure thoughts? That’s where the arrow is headed. And so on.
The same goes for any person struggling with anger, bitterness, materialism (a need for buying stuff), doubt, gossip, criticizing others. It doesn’t matter. Whatever is your struggle – that is where the enemy’s arrows are aimed.
But, God loves us so much he does not leave us vulnerable or unprotected.
Paul wrote from prison,
As Paul describes the armor of God, we discover there are three items we “put on” and three items we “take up,” one of those we take up being the shield of faith.
For example, one way I “take up my shield of faith” when Satan is hammering me is by focusing on being thankful. It’s a peculiar thing, really. But it has always worked. Perhaps, that’s why the psalmist instructed us, even before we enter God’s courts with praise, to “enter his gates with thanksgiving.”
Satan never points out the abundant blessings of God in our lives. Instead, he always points out what appears to be missing. (This was his strategy in Eden. If it’s not broke, why fix it?)
God inhabits the praise of his people. And, when we resist the devil (by allowing Christ to take over), Satan flees in terror.
Soli Deo Gloria, Nick