Despite rising reports of spiritual warfare, we can feel reassured that the devil is no match to God’s power. While evil forces are real and subtle, they can only act by divine permission, which God often uses to draw a good.
We have to strengthen our faith that God is always in control of things. He is the ultimate authority and knows how to extract good even from evil. We should avoid living in fear which the devil can use to do his tricks. The devil uses subtle, cunning tactics to exploit our weaknesses, often creeping in when we are overly comfortable, privileged or drowning in despair.
The secret to avoiding vulnerability is for us to be always alert and to rely entirely on God and avoid pride or despair, acknowledging that without him, we can achieve nothing of true value.
But we should never think that devils are just a myth. Evil spiritual forces are very real and actively seek to divert us from the truth and charity. What makes us vulnerable is when we rely on our own power and resources instead of God. Without faith, without love and humility, these privileges can only spoil us. We should guard our heart against both the pride of worldly success and the paralyzing depths of despair.
We also should learn how to maintain spiritual awareness. This we can do when we make it our lifestyle to have some plan of life that would be made up of certain practices of piety. These practices, if done properly, can keep us always united with God, and with him, no spiritual danger can come close to us.
Developing an effective plan of life consisting of some practices of piety like mental prayer, recourse to the sacraments, examinations of conscience, etc. may require some time and effort, but it’s an investment that is all worth it. The little time and effort required can actually multiply our time and make our efforts more productive at the end of the day. We would be more able to resist our weaknesses and the temptations around.
In these complicated times of ours with so many issues, problems and challenges spewing out, the need for plans and strategies have become more indispensable so that we can study them better and know exactly what to do with them. The way things are now, these issues, problems and challenges really need to be studied well, making due consultations when necessary.
What can help in this regard is to cultivate the practice of making daily examinations of conscience so we can make a review of what happened during the day and come up with the appropriate plan and strategies for the following day.
Since we usually examine our conscience at the end of the day, fatigue can easily set in. We must actively motivate ourselves to focus during this practice. The small effort we invest will yield immense spiritual returns. We must also avoid falling into a mindless routine. Without intentional strategies, we cannot navigate life's challenges. These spiritual plans keep us focused on our ultimate goal with minimal distraction.
To be sure, making and following a plan of life will greatly help us to resisting the tricks of the devil who never takes a vacation in tempting us.
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