Update:
Due to a couple things that have happened in the last few days, I was tempted to delete this post. What happened? Through some actions of the person I refer to as the victim, whether they were conscience of it and did it deliberately, or whether it was the Holy Spirit 100%, I received confirmation that God has this person. That the Holy Spirit is still very much in charge of them. That maybe, just maybe, it is God who is being the stealth one LOL… He is never “tricky” (deceptive) but He does definitely do things in ways that we do not see…Either way, the devil is not winning. Praise God. But, since God is the one who told me to write it, I am leaving it out here. With the update especially, it might even help more people – emphasizing the power of prayer and more importantly, a lesson in trust.
Satan is a tricky one and goes after the best of the best. He does it so stealthily that often that person does not even recognize it and would deny it to the hilt if someone dared to try to point it out.
I am watching it happen to someone I love and it is devastating. Satan preys on the weakest character flaws and slowly but surely chips away. Satan places one of his dominions in a person’s life; someone who, on the surface, sounds “good” and acts “good”, and doesn’t even recognize the extent of their own evil. Once the minion wins the approval of satan’s victim, then satan starts using the minion and the victim to influence others surrounding the victim. Good people with good intentions start perpetuating the evil one’s plan. He goes further by influencing still more people to feed into his plan by having them try to encourage, flatter and support the victim, not realizing that they (we) are just feeding into the devil’s plan with what they are saying and doing – not recognizing the changes that are being made to the victim; often denying the changes because they cannot believe it would happen to someone like this victim.
I am in the process of watching the victim lose their very self, lose what made them good, lose what made them special, lose what made them holy. I see this person whose words had always matched their actions become someone I do not recognize.
I know the part I had in this and I know there is nothing I can do to change it. I had learned so much from this person, they had been such a significant assistance in my spiritual journey, they inspired me in ways that no one had ever done before. When I started recognizing the danger signs, because of my own flaws, sins, and unworthiness, I refused to believe it was happening, I refused to accept that someone like me could ever see evil that someone like this person could not see. I know now that I let the evil one use my self-knowledge, my own weaknesses and flaws, for his own purpose. I know he especially used my fears. I did not want to lose this person’s friendship or attention. So even after seeing what was happening, I not only did nothing other than pray (but again, since I was in denial, the prayers were not the right ones), I persisted in supporting the devil in his efforts. The stupid thing of it is, I lost it anyway and the saddest part is, now that the victim no longer has much to do with me, I have no chance of trying to help undo what I have done.
I had reached the point of believing I had to be the devil’s victim myself because of this person’s background, sacrifices, and what they had done with their life, and because of what I have not. I questioned my own faith and trust. I doubted that it was God who had been working in and on me after all. I was nearing the point of total despair in chastisement of myself for even thinking that someone like the victim could be being manipulated by the devil. I prayed so hard on it. I begged the Lord to show me the truth. I expected that He would change my heart about both the victim and the person I believed was the devil’s minion, but instead, He placed others in my life that are seeing the same thing. Good people. Diverse people. Mostly these people have experienced the evil emanating from the minion, but some also recognized the changes in the victim especially from the influence of the minion.
The Lord has worked so extremely hard on me the last few months, but almost overwhelming this past month. I have suffered much emotionally and even physically, but almost immediately something would happen that made me believe God was using it in order that I might help others who were going through something similar in each and every case. He used these situations to also validate that my “instincts” are a gift from Him in ways that could not be denied.
The Lord laid on my heart last night that the one I love is at a crossroad and does not see it. I asked what I could do and, of course, He answered pray and make reparation for them. I responded: my God, you know I already do this every day. He further laid on my heart to write this. Being the stubborn one that I am, I could not help but ask why? I told Him – but Lord, you know the victim has lost all respect for me (if they ever sincerely had any). Even if I write it or were even to tell them in person, they would not accept it from me. Plus, they never read anything I post. My Lord responded – just do it. So I am.
Everyone changes and that can be a good or bad thing. We all need to grow and expand in our current surroundings. We need to look for ways to make a difference and be a difference. But, we need to be careful that we are making the right changes, that we are truly and sincerely going to God every minute of the day making sure that this “trust” that we rely so heavily upon is truly trust in God and not trust in ourselves or in our own faith. I believe that this is a thin line that gets blurred especially when God is so prevalent within us. We have a tendency to think that, because the Holy Spirit is within us and has guided us so well, what we think or feel must be right. Because of our trust in our own faith, we rely on ourselves instead of truly going to and listening to Him. We think -“He’s got this, He’s got me”, but we never ask Him about the specifics. We just act on what we are feeling/thinking. We accept through others’ comments and flattery (especially if it is coming from “good” people) is validation that what we are doing/thinking is correct. We trust our “instincts” without asking for that validation from God Himself. We fear that if we question whether we are acting in and on the Will of God that this is an indication of lack of faith and trust IN God. But we need to question it; we need to ask Him. As St. Paul says: Question Everything
So there it is. I have laid out what I believe God has put on my heart. I hope this does good for someone even if it is not the victim them self. I have to believe it will. As for the person that is the inspiration for this post, I will continue to offer prayer and reparation. I pray that the victim will take the right path at this crossroad. I pray that the Lord will protect and guide them. I will always be available for this person. I will continue to support this person the way I always have. I will pray for myself that I know without question what to say and do to ensure that I no longer perpetuate the devil’s plan. I pray that, if God chooses so, I be a part of their choosing the correct path to further God’s plan and not the devil’s. I pray that all the good that is being done by this victim is not overshadowed by the evil one. I have always thanked Him for bringing this person into my life. I always thought it was for my sake that He did. Now, I wonder if it was not for our mutual benefit. Just that thought alone is proof that God is working on me for reasons that He may be the only one that understands.
Have a great day and remember, trust in Him… but talk to Him and most importantly, listen to Him.
blessedadorer 
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