You Thought That was the Devil?

Let me start by saying this: What I don’t understand about life could just about fit into the Grand Canyon.

Sometimes people say things that make me wonder. That list is endless, but today what’s caused this runaway train of thought is hearing folks say things like, “The devil will not beat me” or “Satan’s trying to hold me down”.

Now, not knowing el diablo personally, I can’t speak to his proclivities and peccadilloes, but I wonder, is the devil actually, actively trying to hold some people back?

“Of course! That’s his nature”, my good Christian folks would say. But really…really – is the devil working that hard?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to be funny – not entirely. I just don’t know how helpful it is to blame the devil, when it might not be his fault at all. I just don’t think the devil bothers with the low hanging fruit.

If you’re lazy, why would the devil get in your way? Isn’t your mind, like, his workshop?

If you give up easily, what’s he going to do to you that you aren’t already doing to yourself?

If you procrastinate…aren’t you doing the devil’s work for him…like a subcontractor?

For the apathetic, indifferent and unfocused, I don’t think you have much to worry about in the way of the devil. If you think the world owes you something, that’s almost like having Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility. No need for him to bother, you’ll always find the road to get in your own way.

Let’s say that Satan’s hanging out at your house on a random Saturday morning, looking for trouble. No, you can’t see him. If you could, that would be a different kind of story- a really, really scary story - plus M. Night Shayamalan already told that tale anyway. Anyway, you have something you need to do and he’s waiting for you to get started so he can put obstacles in your way. Before you start, you decide to watch TV. That turns into a nap. You call your best friend. You make a sandwich and spend 3 hours on Facebook. Another 2 on Twitter. Then you start playing the Sims on your new PS3. You still haven’t started. You take another nap. You wake up and it’s night. Time to eat again.

It’s during your second nap that Satan decided it wasn’t worth the effort and left. No one likes being bored at work.


Like the rest of us, I’m guessing the devil notices people that are actually doing something. Like Job. I’m a bit rusty on my bible stories, but as I recall, when the devil approached God about messing with Job, it wasn’t because Job was sitting on his keister. Nope. He was diligently serving the Lord and doing whatever other hard labor folks were doing in biblical times.

To be clear, this isn’t a paid endorsement of the devil. I’m just saying that maybe…just maybe…that last time you didn’t take care of business - it wasn’t his fault.

I’m just sayin’.