The Accuser

For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth -the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

-Revelation 12:10b

One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, "I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on."

- Job 1:6-7

Are you feeling accused? One of the names of Satan is Accuser (also see Zechariah 3:1) and he seems to wear the title proudly when we are the most unable to stand up for ourselves.

I was exhausted physically and feeling far from God emotionally and a little on the dry side spiritually recently when I began feeling even worse. It was like everything I fear, everything I doubt, and everything I worry about was being thrown into my face all at once. I felt insignificant and berated and accused. Accused of things I've already been forgiven for.

I was crying when God gave me Zephaniah 3:17. It just popped into my head. But instead of the NLT version, which I own, I remembered and later looked up the 2011 NIV version, which reads a little differently. It says,

The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.

And that's awesome. Those words that my NLT Bible translates as "He is a mighty savior" or words you may remember from Hillsong as "He is mighty to save" are translated in the new NIV as "Mighty Warrior who saves". My God is a Mighty Warrior and he is fighting on my behalf.

I suddenly got the image from John Eldredge's Wild at Heart where the man fights for and on behalf of the woman in his life. Not that the woman can't fight, but that the man is called to fight for her. It is his duty to come for her heart in that way. Listen, girls and guys, God is coming for your heart. He is a Mighty Warrior, fighting on your behalf against Satan and his lies.

Honestly, I was really scared of the feelings I could not explain. I did not know how I could stand up from under them. But I didn't have to. See, God fought for me last night. Since we belong to Christ now, we are co-heirs and conquerors with him. We are his precious children and his bride. Basically, when Satan messes with you, he's messing with God.

So, let God fight for you. Be honest. Say, "God, I can't do this anymore." And let him take your burdens, however painful they are. Let him take your griefs and mistakes, however deep they run. Let him take even Satan's lies, however true they seem. God is your patient lover, waiting to come to your rescue.

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

- Isaiah 30:18