Satan Will Use Whatever He Can to Fill Spiritual Holes in People

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

I wanted to take a quick break from my ongoing series on “Christ, Our Fellowship” to deal with something else that I feel is important. We’ll get back to that series shortly.

I watched three episodes of NatGeo’s Drugs, Inc., the other day with my wife. It was a depressing time of realizing just how bad things are in many portions of the world. Whether it’s Puerto Rico, Australia or places across America, illegal street drugs have taken on a life of their own and destroying many lives in their wake. It’s sad to see just how many people are negatively impacted by drug use.

While we might argue “Well, it’s too bad they started so they reap what they sow!” Yeah, that’s one way of looking at things and certainly there is at least some truth to that point. Unfortunately, with many potent street drugs these days, once a person makes the stupid decision to try them “recreationally,” they often become physiologically and physically hooked on them.

Imagine taking something that makes you feel tremendously powerful, brilliant, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, walk through walls, never need sleep, and more…all for ten minutes! Then, as quickly as the euphoria comes it fades away, leaving the drug user wanting more and more. Once that stuff gets inside your system and you understand what it created, it is extremely difficult for most people to go back to the point they were at emotionally, psychologically, and physically before they ever tasted it.

Could Eve and Adam have gone back to the time before their eyes were opened? Impossible. So the drug user is left trying to spend the rest of his/her life dutifully ignoring what that first drug experience felt like. I’m sure it’s not fun and all I can say is that I am so grateful to God that He kept me from even experimenting with any drugs!

My wife and I were talking about the three episodes we watched and the general drug situation that has taken global society by storm. We noted how interesting it is that if stop and consider things, Satan spends his time trying to make people think that the naturally occurring spiritual hole that exists within them can be filled with anything but the truly spiritual. Yes, for some, he will try to make people believe that this spiritual path or that one over there will answer their questions and fill their needs, but in reality, it seems like most of the time Satan comes at people where they are failing and he tries to get them to fill their needs or compensate on their failures by having them chase after something.

In the NatGeo shows, “Drugs, Inc.,” it really doesn’t matter what social class of people we’re talking about. In all three episodes, drug users crossed social boundaries. They were low-class, to middle class, to high-class. They were homeless (or soon became that after getting involved in drugs) all the way to attorneys, judges, and politicians. Everyone is looking for some type of “fix” that will make them feel better. That’s what it’s all about.

One guy – in the episode that dealt with crystal meth (ice) in Australia – had a decent job in the financial realm. He started using ice recreationally and before he knew it, he had become so preoccupied with the drug that he lost his job, filed for bankruptcy, and lost his address to roam the streets. At one point in the episode, we saw him buying drugs from his dealer who also shot him up with it (using a clean needle supposedly). The instant the drug hit his veins, you could see the change come over him. The intensity was vivid.

This fix caused him to need no sleep at all. In fact, it turned out that he wound up being awake from one Friday to the next before he went to bed for some needed sleep. Seven days without sleep. Our bodies were not built for that, especially as fallen individuals.

Wherever you look in society, people are failing. Their social class doesn’t matter either because Satan teaches people that the thing they need is not found in God. Satan keeps putting all of these obstacles in their way, obstacles which keep them from seeing their real need for God in Christ.

I often wonder why neither Eve or Adam called out to God during the time they were being tempted? They never bothered. They thought they could handle it. More probably, they were already leaning in the direction of their sin and didn’t want to be disturbed. They were looking for a good reason to follow Satan to the dark side.

This is everyone in society today. People are looking, looking, looking. Some know they are looking for God but choose to ignore Him. Others aren’t so sure, so they keep trying the newest meal that Satan places in front of them. In the end, as long as people allow him to continue, Satan will work diligently to keep people from finding God. They’ll be distracted with adultery, fast cars, this job or that one, that huge home over there, the newest whatever or something else. In most cases, a person can walk themselves back from their distractions with all the things I just mentioned. However, when they venture into the realm of drugs, there are too many particulars they cannot control. They could overdose. They could get caught up with shady people where bad things happen. They could severely damage every vital organ in their bodies from which they will suffer for the rest of their lives.

Satan doesn’t want people to become Christians. That his secondary agenda, with his first being to thwart God at every turn, including doing his best to keep Jesus from returning to this earth physically during the Second Coming, which occurs at the end of the Tribulation period. One of the best ways Satan can keep people from becoming a Christian is to keep them as far away from Jesus as possible. Obviously, if Satan can create ways for people to kill themselves (even accidentally, through illicit drug use), then he’ll go for it. One less individual who will make it into heaven.

Understanding just how bad off people are throughout the world today makes us wonder whether or not Satan is limitless in power. Of course he’s not and we should never forget that. He tries very hard to entrap, enslave, and even kill people before they get a chance to hear about the grace of God so that they would be drawn to Him for salvation.

Interestingly enough, this push from the dark ruler of this world (cf. John 12:31; 14:30), will end up fulfilling Scripture at numerous points. A coming one-world system that will fully engulf the entire globe is on its way and according to the Bible, nothing will stop that from happening. The book of Daniel speaks of a time when the Antichrist will step onto the world’s stage and broker a peace treaty with Israel and her neighboring Arab nations (cf. Daniel 9:27). This will usher in a period of false peace and safety that many will believe will be true peace in our time. The problem of course is that the world will never experience true peace until Jesus returns.

Satan is the master of distractions. Above all things, he wants to keep Jesus from returning to earth. Second to that is his goal to keep people from receiving the only salvation available to them in Jesus, our Lord.

People the world over are becoming encased in tragic habits from which they cannot extricate themselves. They are lost and dying and it seems that little can be done. Rather than Christians trying to spend time changing the political landscape in America, shouldn’t the emphasis be on the Great Commission? This world is destined to be destroyed so it would seem that working to correct problems from the political arena will not work.

What is more valuable, a particular political viewpoint that, if allowed, would only make it appear as though things have normalized or the salvation of someone’s soul? We need to use our talents, our energies, and our resources to spread the gospel of Jesus. It seems to me that everything else is a waste of time.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective