Satan visits

It has been a couple of weeks now and I have just, yesterday, figured out what is going on. Satan is good. I hate to give too much credit but looking back, wow! 

A couple, three weeks ago it started very covertly. It started with compliments. You are so smart. Look at the way you can do math. You have such a great concept of reality. I mean, if someone was telling you all of this, wouldn't you feel pretty good about yourself. Who doesn't like compliments. I know I do. But this is the way the evil one starts to lure you in. Not much different than in the garden of Eden.

Satan came to visit Eve and I am sure he made her feel pretty good about yourself, then he started manipulating her. So, after I was feeling pretty built up by all of the compliments, he started to tell me, you know you are so smart with your math and making a budget. But, you also surely see that it doesn't work, there is not enough money. And of course, the timing couldn't be worse as we just started a huge capital campaign at the church. Now, this really starts the inner struggle because you want to do good but just can't see any way to do it based on the numbers. God, however, calls us to faith and not math.

So, now Satan has found an inroad with me. He has rekindled fear, something I had not felt for some time. Now, we pile on life with 4 kids at home and all of the business that entails plus trying to do good and serve God in his Church. I was rushing from one event to the next when Satan tried to set the hook(fishing reference).

I heard this question asked of me clear as day.

"Why don't you just give all of this up? All of this church stuff, the diaconate, all of it; just give it all up. It is too hard. just go back to being your sinful, lethargic self that will be much easier."

I almost bought into it. But I thought and prayed. God, where is this coming from? This is nuts. This doesn't make any sense at all. There was so many positive things going on in my life, why would this be happening to me? But that is exactly why it was happening to me. I was moving closer to Jesus Christ and Satan does not like that. I asked a couple of good friends for prayer and of course they prayed with me right after daily mass. And through this prayer it all came into perspective.

I am entirely flattered, now, that Satan considers me a threat. It is actually quite comical now that I see it for what it truly is. It is kind of like the day I was playing basketball and they started guarding me. I was suddenly considered good enough to merit guarding. What a great day when you can make Satan play defense.