Spiritual warfare is a real thing.

The enemy is a lion, seeking whom he may devour. We know we have an enemy, and we know he doesn’t want us to succeed…but God’s presented a question to me in the last few months. One that’s got me thinking really hard about a few things.

What if it isn’t actually spiritual warfare? What if, in blaming him, I’m actually aiding the enemy?

I blamed Satan for killing my dog…

My parents got me a dog when I was twelve. We found her on Craigslist for $350. When we got there, I remember getting out of the car and looking around. Bars on every window. Graffiti on the walls. They brought the puppies out on the street, like some sort of drug deal. The moment I held her, I knew I wanted her. She was the sweetest thing, and so tiny. I could hold her in the cup of my hands.

Dad looked at my mom and shook his head. This dog wasn’t like the others. She was tinier, covered head to toe in fleas, and was barely moving. She was dying.

“I’m not buying a dead dog,” Dad hissed. Mom looked at him, then down at the dog and me, and then back to my dad. He negotiated $50 off, due to the fleas, and before I knew it, we were piling back in the car, dog in hand.

I kept my hand in the crate with her, kept petting her head. I sang under my breath to her, praying for her. We gave her plain ground chicken for dinner, cause when we got her home, we realized she didn’t even have her back teeth yet. We were told she was 6-weeks old. The vet later told us she was barely 3 weeks old.

(If you want to see something really cute, click here)

This Dog Grew Up With Me

We had a grungy teen phase together. I took my high school graduation photos with her. She and I were quite the pair.

I’ve talked about the Big Sad before in my blog, about how I was dying and yada-yada-yada, all that drama. I didn’t really go into detail then about Sugar. It was a really stressful time in my life. Friendships ending, I lost all three of my jobs, my grandpa died…Sugar was acting off. We took her to the vet and found out she had a very tiny bit of cancer.

Three weeks later, on my twenty-third birthday, we had to make the call and say goodbye.

At the time, I had a mentor through a program in our church, an older lady. I met with her that week at Panera Bread and barely touched my food. I told her everything that happened. She looked at me and very seriously asked me what I’d done to piss off God, and when I would be ready to repent of whatever it was.

I had a choice in that moment.

I went home, and I thought long and hard about what she said. I came to the conclusion that no, God wasn’t vindictive like that. He died for me for a reason, and he loved me. Losing my grandpa, my income, my health, my friends, and finally my dog, all in the span of three months, didn’t scream, “God loves you,” to me.

So, obviously, it wasn’t God. It had to be the enemy.

The enemy gave my dog cancer.

The enemy made my boss fire me.

The enemy made my friends treat me poorly.

But is that really true?

I was ranting to my good friend, Bre, about this last month. Gently, lovingly, she pushed back. Was it really the enemy? Or was I giving credit where credit wasn’t due?

It was a hard truth to accept, but blaming the enemy wasn’t actually doing me any favors.

Dogs die. That’s the truth. It can happen fast and suddenly, and the timing certainly sucked. God 100% used it later, down the line, for his glory (another blog for another time). But that doesn’t mean Satan snuck into my house, wiggled his fingers, and gave my dog cancer. Bad things sometimes happen because we live in a fallen and broken world.

Why give credit to the enemy?

Here’s the hard truth.
It’s easier to blame the enemy for these things, because it removes our need to do any hard thinking or work on ourselves.

When I blame the enemy for my friends treating me poorly, I don’t actually have to do the hard work of forgiveness. I can just keep on blaming the enemy for their actions, and keep on feeling hurt and victimized by it.

When I blame the enemy for killing my dog, I don’t have to bring my pain to God and ask him to help me through this, to comfort me, because I get to be justified in my anger and pain.

Do you know who wins in that situation?

You guessed it. The enemy. Because he didn’t even have to lift a finger to get my attention off of God.

Here’s a question: Where is your attention on the enemy instead of God? Where is it on your problems, your pain, instead of on Christ?

Are you blaming the enemy for killing your dog? Are you blaming him for your loved ones mental health issues? For the loss of your job? For your friend’s sucky behavior?

Yes, spiritual warfare is real…but how often do we do the work of the enemy for him, just because we aren’t willing to bring our pain to Jesus?

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A great way to keep your focus off the enemy and on to God is practicing joy! Check out my free five day devotional!