Maintaining Perspective

It is easy to stare too long and too hard at Satan and his minions and their activities, so that you lose perspective. We are told we should be aware and be on our guard (Ephesians 6:10-13; 1 Peter 5:8-10; 2 Corinthians 11:1-3). But we are also told that Christ is the Victor over these enemies (Colossians 2:15; 1 John 4:4; Hebrews 2:14,15). We can spend so much time staring at Satan and not at Christ that it can make us paranoid. I am convinced I have the gift of discernment of spirits. And when I first began to take that gift seriously, I felt I had crossed over into the Twilight Zone. I think this may be a normal reaction to taking demonic influence seriously. But we need to beware of being so swept along by this feeling that we let it control us. And we need to focus our attention on Christ, who is the true Ruler (Romans 8:37-39; Colossians 1:13-20; Revelation 5:11-14).