How the Devil Steals Your Blessings
Have you ever had a day that starts out all wrong? A day you know is going to be challenging right from the get-go? The kids are throwing fits, you burn breakfast, or your car won’t start. A day that feels like the universe is against you, where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong.
Me too. They suck. It feels like nothing you do can stop it. It only continues to get worse as the day goes on.
Because I’ve had these days, I was intrigued when I heard a new theory the other day. It says your day is distractingly bad like that because the devil is trying to steal blessings. Maybe that sounds a little far-fetched to you, but hear me out.
If God were trying to give you something really great, like a gift, would the devil want that to happen? Of course not. He’d probably be willing to do whatever it took to prevent it.
The only problem is the devil can’t stop God from giving it to you. He can’t stop God from doing anything. And he can’t really stop you either. But he still has his ways of preventing you from receiving it. He can stop the blessing by making you grumpy, by lowering your vibration, by sending you a very bad day. Then he won’t have to stop anything, you’ll stand in your own way of the blessings.
Not sure you agree? Let’s play out a scenario:
Lisa woke up late. She has a big meeting for a new project at work. She hates meetings. And she always ends up with the worst assignments. The day is already going to suck and waking up late has made it even worse.
She rushes around getting ready and stubs her toe on the dresser. Yep, this day is destined to suck. Once she’s ready she jumps in the car and speeds out of her driveway. She’s so distracted she almost hits her neighbor, Val. She hurriedly waves and gets on the road.
A road that is at a standstill. It seems there was an accident and she’s stuck there until they can clear it. She’s fuming, gripping the steering wheel, and cussing to herself.
By the time she makes it to work, she’s an hour late. Her boss asks her why and she gets defensive. She mutters excuses and rolls her eyes when her boss seems unhappy. It’s not like any of this was her fault. But he still gives her the worst assignment for the project. If she can’t be here on time, she can’t be trusted with bigger assignments.
The day goes downhill from there.
And the devil laughs and laughs because it was so easy for him to get what he wanted.
Do you see how that story went from bad to worse? What started a little rocky, turned into a whole collapse. But the day didn’t have to go that way.
What if Lisa knew the devil was trying to sabotage her day? Things could have gone like this instead:
Lisa woke up late. She has a big meeting for a new project at work. She hates meetings. And she always ends up with the worst assingments. As she’s rushing out of bed, it occurs to her that maybe she woke up late because something good is about to happen.
She heard the devil acts up on the best days. He doesn’t want them to be the best days.
She stubs her toe in her rush to get ready. But she takes a breath and says “You’re not ruining my day. Not today satan!” And then laughs at herself because it sounds silly.
As she’s pulling out of the driveway she sees her neighbor, Val. She rolls down the window and says, “Good morning! I’m late so I can’t chat.” Val smiles and says, “No worries. If you’re late, stop for treats. That always used to make my boss happy.” Lisa waves and pulls away.
She gets on the road to see there was an accident, and a ton of traffic. But she thinks about what Val said. She knows there’s a donut shop around the corner, and the traffic is going to keep her here a while anyway. She decides to do it and pulls off the road for treats.
Once the sugary bits have been aquired, she gets back in the car and drives to work, singing to the radio the whole way. By the time she makes it there she’s an hour late.
When her boss asks why she’s late she says, “I overslept. I’m so sorry. I got donuts on my way in to apologize.” The boss seems happy. What she doesn’t know is that she hasn’t been getting good projects because she’s had a poor attitude. But the attitude today is great. He decides to give her a shot on this new project. Something he’d been on the fence about before.
He asks if she’d like to lead the project. If it’s successful, it could come with bonuses and maybe help her boss take her seriously enough for that promotion she wants. What a blessing!
And the devil is upset. Because his tricks didn’t work and Lisa got the gifts God was sending.
Do you see how wildly different that day was? All Lisa had to do was pause, and decide she wasn’t letting the devil stand in her way of blessings.
That might be hard to do the first few times. But once you get the hang of it, it’ll come easy.
God has blessings for you. God wants to give you all the things you’re praying for. He does. And he tries to. The devil can’t stop God. His only power is to make you get in your own way.
Sometimes he does that by sending a bad day. Other times it’s by making you doubt yourself. Doubt that you deserve it. Those thoughts aren’t yours. It’s the devil using the only power he has, tricks.
If he can trick you for just a little while, it’s long enough to derail the gifts. It’s long enough to stop yourself from receiving. And what a shame. Because the gifts are amazing.
Don’t you want the gifts? I do. So I’m going to practice this. I’ll say “Not today satan!” because it makes me chuckle and sometimes that’s all you need. Laugh at the devil and your joy brings you closer to God’s gifts.
If you want to check out the Podcast I co-host, go here:
Growing Up for Adults on Spotify
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And check out the books I authored here:
How to Be Friends with Your Ex
Thanks so much for reading today. I love you and want all the best for you.
