In the valley of a tough loss, I knew our coaches needed to be encouraged. It’s in the valleys of life that Satan attacks. We discussed three strategies Satan used in Genesis and that he still uses today. Having awareness of these strategies enable us to defend against them.
Below are three of Satan’s strategies:
#1: He attacks you in isolation. Satan knew Eve was alone for a short time. Satan also knew that only Adam heard God’s command NOT to eat from the tree. How do we know?
READ: Gen. 2 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
When God gave that command originally in Gen. 2:15-17, Eve wasn’t even created yet. Satan knew if he approached them together they could be there for each other, hold each other accountable, help counteract Satan’s lies.
This is why churches would like you to join a small group. This is why we try to stay connected to our players, encourage them to have a solid support group, create a safe community/locker room, preach togetherness, have team building exercises, etc. We are better together.
How has Satan attacked you in isolation? After a loss, Satan will mess with your thoughts. It’s a battle of the mind! He will make you believe you’re not a good coach/player, or make you want to blame others.
Which leads to the next strategy Satan’s uses.
#2: He tries to deceive you.
Genesis 3 reads…
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
Satan shifted Eve’s focus from what she did have to what she didn’t have. She had everything in the entire world accept for one thing! Gen. 3:5- Satan gets Eve to doubt God’s goodness, and he made her think that God was holding out on her.
Satan wants to make you question God’s love for you with thoughts like: If God loves me He would have given me that win, that winning season or that one recruit. He will make you question your coaching, other coaches, or your talent as a player.
For Eve, Satan used a snake. Looking back, what or who has Satan used as a vehicle to deceive you?
Because it is a battle of the mind, we must discipline our minds to think Biblically. We can start with giving God praise!
Psalm 103:1-5; 2 Cor. 10:5.
Psalm 103:1-5 – Praise the Lord oh my soul, all that is in me, praise…regardless of our circumstance…don’t forget His past blessings!
2 Cor. 10:5- 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Continuing with Gen. 3:6- Satan’s goal was to get Eve to eat so she could in turn get Adam to eat. “Then Eve gave some of the fruit to her husband Adam and he ate”.
Why did Adam eat? What could he have done?
(The discussion concerning this question was great… we discussed how he could have manned up and taken the lead. Adam could have said what are you doing Eve? He could have gone to God and said, this woman you gave me is jacked up. I got other ribs, take one and make another!
We also had fun discussing who was at fault. Who messed up? Our answer lies in verse 8.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
When God was reinserted, the first person he called was who? Adam! When God confronted the two He said, “did you”, masculine singular, eat from the tree that I command “you” not to eat from. He’s speaking to the man. He never addresses the woman.
#3: Satan wants God’s creation to fight/turn on each other.
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Rather than passing the blame, Adam should have manned up. Coach Pearl has said that everyone, coaches and players, needs to look within. No time for the blame game.
Lastly, notice that Satan makes you believe that there are no consequences for your actions: “You shall not surely die”. Spiritual death happened for Adam and Even the moment they ate the forbidden fruit. They also lost their perfect home, the Garden of Eden.
There are always consequences to our actions whether they manifest in the present or in the future. Thanks be to Jesus, he took care of the future consequence of our sin, death and eternal separation from God, when he died on the cross and rose again.
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