Being aware of how Satan works is the first step in defeating him; creating doubt is one of his most effective tools...
Satan has MANY tools in his toolkit with which to deceive the world.
We consider many of these on a daily basis as we fight to follow Christ's path more consistently.
After all, we first need to become aware of how Satan works if we are ever going to defeat his influence in our lives.
But there is one tactic... one tool... that is so subtle, we are quite likely to miss it altogether.
And at the same time, it is one of the most deadly to our souls. Why? Because it pulls us away from God more strongly than other selfish ambitions.
This catastrophic tool is the tool of DOUBT.
Use of Doubt
Consider the following in terms of how destructive the doubt actually is to our eternal spiritual health.
The very first sin - Adam's disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden - was motivated by doubt in God's truth and goodness.
Specifically, in Genesis 3:1, Satan asks Eve, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" We see clearly that Satan introduces doubt to drive a wedge between the perfect relationship between man and God. Satan causes man to doubt in God's spoken truth and goodness.
Fast forward to Jesus' early ministry, when he is tempted by Satan in the dessert (Matthew 4:1-10).
Here, Satan offers Jesus every earthly measure of wealth and power. As Jesus fights Satan literally with the Word (i.e., quoting Scripture), in two out of three of Satan's direct challenges to Jesus, Satan begins his attack with "if you are the Son of God." Satan uses doubt!
Consequences of Doubt
When we consider that Satan chooses the weapon of doubt in a head-to-head confrontation with Jesus, we become aware of just how powerful it must be.
So why is doubt such a powerful weapon?
Quite simply, doubt draws us away from God. Doubt draws us away from His promises and His goodness.
Ultimately, doubt leads to a lack of faith. Jesus had a lot to say about those who lack faith. Essentially, those without faith have no access to God's power in their lives. That sounds pretty awful to most of us Christians who are seeking the exact opposite - more and more of God's power and influence in our lives.
The loss of faith in God drives us towards other things to fulfill what we were designed to find only in Him and in which only He can actually satisfy. We turn to our fleshly desires to give us temporary fulfillment. Ultimately, we turn to these false gods believing and experiencing much less of the power of God in our daily lives.
In addition, our doubt in God and lack of faith in His promises causes us to start relying on ourselves. We tend to "man up" and "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps" to attempt to do what we believe God can't... or won't. We push God to the side.
Conclusion
We have reviewed the significance and the power of doubt in potentially destroying our relationship with God. We have highlighted its effectiveness as evidenced by Satan's use of doubt as his weapon of choice in fighting for mens' souls.
We have reminded ourselves of how we can easily lose faith, a critical component if we truly want to access God's power in our daily lives.
Being on guard for the shadows of doubt each day would serve us well that we would not lose our faith. What remains is the kind of faith that can move mountains... and most of us have a few mountains we'd like to move :)
