Don't Waste a Perversion

From time-to-time, I have to block people from my social media accounts. It happened yesterday when a young woman named “Ginger” wanted to connect via Twitter. My first indication that something was amiss was when I noticed she did not dress appropriately for the occasion if you get my drift.

I blocked her and the demon behind the request. I also took a moment to pray for the young woman that God would gain access to her heart and reveal her true value. Whenever something like this happens, I take delight in messing with hell’s plan. Toss me a scrap of perversion of any kind, sexual lust, an abuse of power or the opportunity to control another person, and I try to turn it into a Kingdom adventure. I pray for the victims and perpetrators alike.

For the most part, I have done a pretty good job. The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I am able to see behind the initial presentation of these perversions, and discover the motivating power that created their inviting display and cunning invitation.

James told his readers God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. In the next verse he writes, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). 

When invitations to pervert God's original plan pay us a visit and we engage that visit with a version of personal pride that says, “I can do this in my own strength!” we have already stepped into a place of failure. Only a humble heart that realizes all our feet are made of clay can navigate these encounters with darkness and come out the other side spiritually intact. 

After the admonition to walk in humility, we are invited to submit to God before we offer up any resistance. Why is that? Because only by submitting to God in humility will we discover our personal plan of resistance. We begin to resist these invitations when we delete a “Ginger” and the spirit behind her invitation or when we refuse an offer to abuse our position of authority in another person's life or say no to another slice of apple pie when we are already ten pounds overweight. The devil flees when we begin to execute a plan of resistance that comes from a humble heart in submission to God.  

The next time a perversion pays you a visit don’t waste it. In humility let God know you need His grace to move forward with purity and clarity. In that moment of humble submission,  a plan of counter-attack will come. In the end, your resistance will have made you stronger and the power of hellish seduction will have grown weaker. The devil never imagined that would happen when he began his assault on your calling and destiny.