Submission or Resistance | How Does Satan Trap Us?
Submission or resistance, which one do you choose?
At various points in life, we are confronted with choices. We have to decide between submission or resistance. However, when confronting a real enemy, we face a different situation, and in many cases, submission equates to defeat.
Every living being encounters enemies based on its existential structure. Naturally, the greater its existential capacity, the more enemies it will have. Our Creator, who is fully aware of the nature of our existence, has identified an obvious enemy and warned us to take his enmity seriously.
This enemy is none other than Satan, who is incompatible with our existential structure, and submission to him leads to our destruction. Just as our body perishes by giving in to a deadly virus, our soul would also be wasted by submitting to our obvious enemy, who is Satan, preventing us from reaching the ultimate goal of our creation.
Actually, between submission or resistance to Satan, we have no other choice but to resist him. However, it is important to understand:
Under what circumstances do we tend to submit to Satan?
What strategies does Satan use to influence and dominate us?
How can we prevent Satan’s domination over ourselves and not submit to him?
Under What Circumstances Do We Usually Submit?
If we pay attention to our life experiences, they will definitely provide us with useful insights; for example, have you ever thought when we lose to an enemy? The answer is simple; it is when we consider the enemy too greater than our own capabilities and strengths, or when we assume victory to be very easy and underestimate the enemy. In both cases, we will not have the motivation to fight because we think we already know the outcome.
The same logic applies to Satan. There is no doubt that Satan is our sworn enemy, and a moment of negligence will lead to our downfall; however, we must remember that this enemy has no inherent power over us. In fact, it is through our shortcomings, negligence, or arrogance that we pave the way for his dominance. When God instructs us to consider Satan an enemy, it means that despite his vast army and resources, he is not an invincible being; rather, we must know how to resist him, never submitting to him when we have to choose either submission or resistance.
When we lack self-knoweldge, we may feel unmotivated and unknowingly seek temporary distractions to avoid pain, which is exactly what Satan wants. If we know our value and our infinite existence, we understand that Satan does not have any access to our divine and human dimension. In fact, Satan may influence us through the lower dimensions of our existence, and when these dimensions are under the control of our supra-rational or human dimension, we will block the way of Satan’s influence and dominance and we will not appear weak before him. Lack of control over the lower dimensions of our existence is like exposing our weaknesses to Satan, the same dimensions that he uses as his devices to ultimately defeat us.
Imagine a child who is easily fooled by a few candies or toys; similarly the inanimate, vegetative, animalistic, or even intellective attractions are Satan’s tools to make us submit. These tools, if not used correctly and controlled, prepare the grounds for our downfall.
Satan’s Tactics of Influence
Doubt and Misconception
Except for the tools we provide for him, Satan seeks situations where we are most vulnerable; situations in which we have not enough stability and are prone to deviation. In fact, Satan has nothing to do with our certainties and our deeply held beliefs, he targets our doubts and misconceptions which weaken us and make us vulnerable. Just like a tree that is rotten from within and collapses with the slightest push. Satan’s sole purpose is to deviate us from the Straight Path.
Therefore, he uses whatever he can such as a message, thought, motivation, or incorrect feeling to disturb our balance and confuse us. Certainly, in a state of confusion between submission or resistance, we do not choose resistance, and right when we lose control over the situation, even the smallest disruption leads to our downfall. In fact, in this situation, Satan manipulates us in a way that we do not even have time to think about submission or resistance, and as a result, we easily submit to his desires.
Despair
Of course, success does not mean that we never suffer any defeat from Satan; rather, we succeed when we do not despair despite our failures and become more parepared because despair marks the beginning of a downward spiral, and our good deeds are gradually abandoned due to a lack of motivation. At this point, the path to misguidance opens and Satan finds a way to enter and enslave us.
You have probably encountered someone who has lost hope. The most important characteristic of a hopeless person is the lack of motivation to move forward and pursue his goals. Someone with a weak spirit has no ability to resist, so he easily submits. In fact, Satan wants to bring us to the point where we become hopeless and have no will to resist because despair only weakens us and creates greater grounds for injustice, crime, and corruption.
How Can We Save Ourselves?
No matter how strong we are, without knowledge about our enemy, we are vulnerable because we do not know how to prepare ourselves for the battle and what to expect. Picture having the most powerful and well-equipped army in the world, yet not knowing the enemy’s strategies, attack plans, weaponry, or strengths of their forces. In this case, we must always keep ourselves fully prepared in all aspects, which is almost impossible. Ultimately, we may be attacked from a place we least expect.
The same applies to confronting Satan; familiarity with his attacks and strategies prevents us from falling for his temptations. We must know that Satan has no authority over us, and his power is merely limited to suggestions and temptations. It is us who accept his invitation and submit to his commands. Therefore, we must learn about recognizing his attacks and types of temptations in order to block his path of influence and dominance. In future lessons, we will discuss in detail how to identify Satan’s attacks and methods. For now, we should acknowledge that he attacks from four directions and can engage us from behind, front, right, and left.
Of course, there are other solutions that can protect us from temptations and prevent harm; for example, there is a direct relationship between decreasing gratitude and an increase in vulnerability to Satan. Naturally, someone who constantly appreciates God’s blessings and is grateful for His grace and the beauty of this world and the hereafter is different from someone who neither sees his own qualities and blessings nor sees God’s care and support. Such a person easily falls into fear, anxiety, grief, depression, and lack of motivation, all of which are signs of submission to Satan. We must remember that while the danger posed by this enemy is serious, it does not mean that we are incapable of confronting him; when confronted between submission or resistance, we are never justified in choosing submission.
In this lesson, we explored how each of us encounters situations where we are forced to choose either submission or resistance. However, when confronted with a powerful opponent like Satan, submission can lead to our annihilation. We mentioned that when faced with the decision between submission or resistance, we opt for submission when we either perceive our enemy as an excessively powerful rival, or underestimate our own abilities. However, Satan does not confine himself to these strategies alone, but he uses any means to instill doubt, despair, and confusion in us, placing us in a position where we do not even have the opportunity to choose submission or resistance, and we can easily be deviated from the Straight Path. In fact, the more we know about the nature of Satan’s attacks, the more successfully we can recognize them.
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you had to choose either submission or resistance? In such situations, what strategies do you pursue to avoid submission to Satan?