6 September 2026
THE DEVIL’S DEVICES (2)
(Spiritual Warfare: SW 20)
The second device the devil uses against Christians is DEPRESSION. Depressed people are usually paralyzed emotionally, leading to mental derangement and psychological distress. Such people cannot think rationally and feel isolated from the community. They become lonely, enveloped in their own world of imaginable troubles, and may even become suicidal in extreme cases. This can happen to anyone – even the so-called spiritually strong believers.
Many believers fall into this trap and the devil thus has the advantage. This is what the devil wants to do.
Elijah, after his great spiritual battle on Mount Carmel went through a bout of depression, so much so that he felt suicidal. In
1 Kings 19:4, we read about his depressive state:
“He came to a broom tree, sat under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said, “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” If this could happen to a prophet such as Elijah, it can happen to any Christian. How does the devil cause such harm to God’s people?
- He uses discouragement to throw us off-balance.
If we are not careful even little things can bring discouragement into our lives. These are “little foxes” in our lives that unsettle us and make us impatient and irritable (Songs 2:15). They may be worries, disappointments and emotional irritations that we allow to infest our lives because we did not deal with them earlier. They become “footholds” which the devil uses to enter our lives and to cause trouble for us (Eph.4:27).
- He uses “thorns of flesh” to unsettle us emotionally.
The “thorns in our sides” are usually people who seemingly irritate us and upset us easily. We find them “troublesome” and this cause us to be resentful towards them. Often it is our own attitudes towards them that make us resentful and make us avoid them. But the more we try, it seems that the more we run into such people. The next step is to isolate ourselves from people and shut ourselves up in a world of our own – a dark and lonely world leading to depression. We need to learn to tolerate and forbear with people and forgive them. Next, we learn to love them as Jesus loves them; then we will be free.
- He uses the weapon of fear to harass us.
That was what happened to Elijah. He was physically and spiritually exhausted by the big battle on Mount Carmel. Then without warning the evil queen Jezebel threatened to kill him. In his present state of mind, he couldn’t think properly. So fear gripped him and he ran away. Fear of every kind, taken to extremes, can cause depression leading to suicidal tendencies. We need to reject and rebuke fear in the Name of Jesus and declare that Jesus is with us always. We need to tell Satan that we are not afraid because Jesus has already defeated him and he cannot harm us. Faith in Jesus and His Word dispel all fear. Also, “Perfect love also casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). Loving Jesus and letting His Love fill us dispels fear.
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