In Matthew 4:1-11 we find that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights and afterwards was hungry. The enemy approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread. He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the enemy took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, you shall not put the Lord, your God to the test.” Then the enemy took him up to a very high mountain and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Then the enemy left him, and behold angels came and ministered to him.

Did you catch that? The enemy came knocking when Jesus was at his weakest. Yes, Jesus is 100% God, but He was also 100% man. However, Jesus unlike us didn’t succumb to the enemy’s tricks, schemes and foolery! Jesus did what we should do, turned it over to God.

Looking back in the OT, do you remember when the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat? What did Jehoshaphat do? He prayed and turned it over to God and God showed up, but before He took care of business His spirit came upon Jahaziel and the Lord spoke through him and said in 2 Chronicles 20:15, “Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” I don’t know if you read the entire story, but in verses 23-24 we find: “The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.”

Now, back before all this cool video door bell technology was introduce and way before door bell charms started being installed on homes people had physically knock or use a door knocker to access your home. With that said, the enemy tricks, schemes and foolery are no different today then they were back in the desert. Therefore, when the enemy knocks at your door say, “Jesus, it’s for you.”

If you alone are fighting the battle against the enemy I leave you with a few self-evaluation questions to ponder:

Do you know Jesus well enough to ask Him to answer your front door? When life and the devil deal you a bad hand, can you get the Lord to sit at the table and play it for you? Is your relationship to the Almighty current enough, casual enough, familiar and habitual enough to take His presence in your life for granted? In times of great anxiety, do you need to whisper to God to take over or are you screaming at the top of your lungs hoping He’ll hear your plight?

Remember, the battle is not yours, it’s the Lord’s!