I tell my kids that the devil is tiny. I show them with my fingers how small he is and that he is under their feet. Sometimes we have a dancing party and {figuratively} stomp all over him.
But sometimes he doesn’t seem small or under my feet. Sometimes he seems like a giant that keeps pushing me around. I feel broken and bruised and like I just can’t get up one more time.
It is true that he is under my feet {Romans 16:20}. It is true that my God is so great and so big that the enemy is so very tiny in comparison. So, how does a tiny devil become so huge?
One of my girls was telling her sister that she felt like no one cared about her and the other one was arguing back saying that she felt like her sister didn’t care about her at all. Ugh! I was already feeling like I was having a bad day and didn’t want to hear this depressing back and forth pity party. I felt like just yelling at them to stop because I was so tired of it but something rose up inside of me. “They’re giving him power. They’re making him bigger than he is.”
and it came to me.
“Do you see what you are doing? The devil is this big.” I said with my fingers a mere 3 inches apart “but you are making him huge! He whispers lies to you about how no one cares about you and you believe it and then you confess it and you know what…then it becomes true! Start taking your thoughts captive! When you hear those thoughts that are contrary to what God’s Word says about you don’t let the devil grow and get big. Keep him under your feet. Counter that thought with what God’s word says and then the truth is activated and true in your life. Then you will keep the enemy in his place under your feet. Don’t give him any power!”
I stopped for a moment and thought about my “bad day” and the lies I had started to dwell on. Grrr….this devil, he is a sneaky one and I was about to buy into it. I pray to recognize thoughts that I need to take captive more quickly and I am grateful that the Holy Spirit reminds me who I am and how powerful that I am.
It sucks to be put under all your feet, and dancing on me is not cool! :(
Love this! I’m totally going to use this simple, true visual of showing how tiny the enemy is for myself and my children. Memorable & impactful. Thanks for sharing, Kristin!
You’re welcome Eryn! I imagine that my kids will be grown adults who remember how tiny their enemy is and that excites me. I wish that I truly understood it at a younger age.
Oh my, I love this! Love how tangibly you’re mentoring your girls in the battle. I have 4 daughters and I’m going to use this “dancing on him” and “this big” idea today when my tween gets home. There’s always something that’s making the enemy seem huge to her these days. Here, we talk about it in terms of “don’t feed it” (the lie) because lies die from starvation, when we refuse to give them attention. So good to meet another mom teaching her girls to fight!
So nice to meet you too Laurie! Isn’t it so true that we can be equipped to fight, we just need to know how?! I love that my ceiling is my kids floor and they will learn and grow so much farther from where I have because they are learning these things so early. God is so good to teach us how to be overcomers!