Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #38: Perverting God’s Ways

“But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.’ Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.”
—Acts 13:8-12

Satan’s a pervert—one who is crude, shocking, blasphemous, vulgar, and without any good in him. He likes to take the holy and make it profane, thus perverting the ways of God. Satan wants to turn you away from knowing Christ just as he attempted to do in the book of Acts. Dr. Luke, the great physician and author by the Spirit, tells us about Elymas the magician, who opposed the gospel message and sought to turn the proconsul, a man by the name of Sergius Paulus away from the faith. Sergius, a rather intelligent man (Acts 13:7), had summoned Paul and Barnabas so that he might learn more about the gospel. But, once Paul and Barnabas began to tell him about Christ, Elymas the magician, spoke out against them, seeking to turn Sergius Paulus away from the faith. Paul speaks to Elymas and says, 

“You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time"—Acts 13:10-11.

Elymas was trying to keep Sergius Paulus from seeing the truth of Christ, but God responds through Paul by physically blinding Elymas. Elymas had already been spiritually blind, but now his physical condition would match his spiritual one. Immediately, darkness came upon him and he motioned back and forth for someone to lead him by the hand. It was the spiritually blinding of Elymas that enabled Sergius to truly see and believe.

Satan will always attempt to turn away true seekers from God. Since he is the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the whole world is under his power (1 John 5:19), he has been able to keep many blind (2 Corinthians 4:4). We must continue to pray that God will guard and direct those who are seeking Him so that they too know the joy of knowing Christ. May God continually guard us and protect us from Satan’s onslaughts as he continually attempts to pervert the ways of the Lord. May God bring many into His kingdom and may His name resound throughout the nations to the honor, praise, and glory of His great and wonderful name. Amen.