In his 12th letter to his nephew, Wormwood, the "experienced devil" Screwtape gives encouragement and advice on how to lure away a "patient" (Christian) from the "orbit around the Enemy" (God). Screwtape writes "He must be made to imagine that all the choices that have effected this change of course are trivial and revocable." This is applicable to today in that the devil tries to convince us every day that the small choices we make that are dishonoring to God don't really matter and can be taken back. This is especially tricky because as Christians, we know that our sins are forgiven and that the price has already been paid by Jesus on the cross; so in a sense (I want to be careful here), our sins are paid for before we even commit them. However, it is soooo so important for us to realize that we can't use this as an excuse! If God is our Father and our Creator, we need to fear Him and respect Him and not take advantage of the grace and mercy He has so freely given us. We don't deserve this gift at all and can do nothing to earn it; if we truly accept that gift, we should not abuse it.
Screwtape mentions the "patient" as having friends whose "spiritual state is the same as it was six weeks ago." This is convicting to me. I so easily settle for mediocrity and too often become a "lukewarm" Christian. This reminds me of a passage from the book I'm reading, East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Samuel says to Adam, "There you have the difference between greatness and mediocrity. It's not an uncommon disease. But it's nice for a mediocre man to know that greatness must be the loneliest state in the world." As Christians we should constantly be seeking to know God on a different level and looking for Him in the darkest places. We should look for new ways to be challenged by entering those dark places and letting our light shine. However, if we go after God with our whole heart here on earth, we will be rejected. We will be hated. We will be persecuted. We will quite often be alone. However, if we settle for this mediocrity in our faith, in our relationships, in our careers--we will never know what reward we could have gotten. For the Bible says, ""Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me."
Screwtape then talks about a "dim uneasiness" which "increases the patients reluctance to think about the Enemy. All humans at nearly all times have some such reluctance; but when thinking of Him involves facing and intensifying a whole cloud of half-conscious guilt, this reluctance is increased tenfold." Deep inside every one of us lies this "dim uneasiness." Everybody doubts their faith or at times realize how sinful they are and lose hope. These thoughts are straight from Satan, trying to convince us that God's mercy isn't big enough to cover what we've done. In my life, I began to believe the lie Satan was feeding me that I was fat and ugly and would never have any guy ever love me. I started making myself throw up after meals and exercising excessively. Every night I would lie awake in bed thinking of the verse "glorify God with your body." I would realize the abuse I was afflicting on my body and felt guilty. Satan took that guilt and watered it, making me believe that I wasn't acceptable to God as I was, which made me feel worse about myself and then, as I talked about before, I would think, "well, I've thrown up lots of times already, God is just as likely to forgive me if I do it just once more." This is why there are so many problems with addictions. It's a whole cycle of guilt/remorse-->shame/depression-->re-commitments-->stress-->acting out. The devil is tricky-he "prowls around like a hungry lion waiting for someone to devour."
Finally Screwtape says, "Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one." Satan does not only use the big things in our lives to consume us, he uses the small things even more. We need to be alert and grounded in our faith and we cannot settle for mediocrity. We also need to surround and be surrounded by other believers who can help us be aware and fight temptations when they come.
