“I came so that they would have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, NASB2020).
Robert Card was a seemingly normal individual until early 2023 when he began to hear accusatory voices shaming him. Others didn’t hear these voices, so Card eventually spent some time in a mental health facility and was put on prescribed medication before he was released two weeks later. When Card opened fire on citizens in Lewiston, Maine, taking the lives of 18 individuals and injuring many others, his family members were the first to identify him in the photos and call the police. After an extensive manhunt, Card was found dead, having taken his own life.
I can’t help but sit back and grieve over Card as much as I do for those whose lives he took and whose families were forever changed. To me, the whole event screams of Satan’s handiwork.
The Bible describes Satan as a thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:9) He steals peace, joy, health, family, and sanity. The Bible also says Satan is the father of lies. “When he speaks, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44, NIV)
The terrible truth is Satan loves you like he loved Robert Card. He doesn’t care one iota about you. He will destroy you, then discard you.
“You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will make myself like the Most High,’” the prophet Isaiah tells us of Satan’s intentions (Isaiah 13:13-14, NASB).
But therein lay the problem. Despite Satan’s intentions to make himself like God, he can’t create. He can’t make life or offer life, so his war strategy to achieve glory is to distort what has already been created, simultaneously robbing God of the glory of a good creation.
Once I understood this, I couldn’t unsee it. Satan draws out man’s pride and inflates it to disgusting proportions with devastating ends, wields shame like a scythe over the psyche, and uses criticism as a double-edged sword to destroy both the self and others. He dangles material items with a promise of happiness, but those things break, are stolen, and don’t live up to their promises.
Our entertainment is littered with subjugations or destruction of what God made. Zombies, demon-possessed children, and vampires are just a few examples—action movies like those in the John Wick series average 100 onscreen deaths. Death has a sting that robs one of life and their loved ones of furthered connection. It is a loss you can’t unfeel and can’t ever contain. And yet, death and distortion of life are entertainment for many now. Many advertise them in front of and inside their homes all October.
God created the perfect union when he brought a woman to stand beside Adam. But Satan lied to Eve and introduced doubt into her mind, and even today, he is lying to us about who we were created to be and where our happiness lies. Satan has attacked the concepts of gender and the marriage union, working to redefine them through public opinion and entertainment sources. But God says He made us male and female, He made the marriage union, and we are most fulfilled when walking in the light of Jesus. “I came so that they would have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, NASB2020).
Romans 1 teaches that if we exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for the glory found in His creation (ourselves, nature, animals, etc.), that God will give us over to degrading passions and a depraved mind, and we will become people filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil.
We are corruptible. Our glory is corruptible. Satan’s mission is to destroy the glory of God that is evident in you. He is a liar, at war with God, and using you as a pawn.
The wonderful news is you were not created to be a pawn. God predestined you for a relationship with Him and planned to make a child and heir of each person who accepts Jesus as their Savior and Lord (Ephesians 4:1:4-6, Romans 8:17). This life is a war of glory where we choose between good and evil. God loves you and provides for you as His child, if you are willing to take your place in the story of His glory.
Prayer: Father, I don’t want to be on Satan’s squad, robbing You of the glory You are due. Everything You made is good and true and pure and reflects Your character. The world is tempting us all to throw off the mantle of worship and to turn our worship inward, but we see and know that it is part of Satan’s plan to rob You of Your glory and simultaneously destroy us and discard us. I ask for Your protection over my mind and heart, my marriage/relationships/friendships, my children and grandchildren, my passions, and my hobbies. Please open my eyes to the lies I am being told, however subtle, and grow my disciplines of worship. You alone are worthy of praise, and I will declare Your Lordship wherever I go. I will not let the rocks cry out in my place (Luke 19:40).
Your Turn: What area of your life have you allowed cancel culture to silence your declaration of God as Lord over creation? Have you made concessions for the opinions of others to serve as equal truth, or have you trampled over the hearts of others with truth? How can you love others the way you want to be loved and respect them the way you want to be respected, even while clinging steadfastly to the truth of God’s sovereignty over creation in love? As you grow in true worship of God’s character, He will guide you in both gentleness and boldness.