Expect Opposition

We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before temptation came. The Devil had heard God’s warning to Adam: "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die" (Genesis 2:16–17). The way the text in Genesis unfolds, it almost appears as though Satan came immediately with his temptation.

It reminds me of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, where Jesus talked about a sower who went out and scattered seed, and some seed fell on the roadside, where the birds came and quickly ate it.

We all know what that is like. Have you ever dropped a French fry outside McDonald’s? Birds suddenly appear out of nowhere. Then there are the seagulls at the beach that fly off with your lunch or your children or your very small dog.

Jesus said, "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart" (verse 19). That is why we need to pray for people who have just come to Christ, because the Devil will be there with temptation, with doubt, and with an onslaught of other things.

This reminds us that whenever God is blessing, expect the Devil to be opposing—immediately. He isn’t going to wait for a year. He isn’t going to wait for a month. He may not even wait for an hour.

You can be walking out of church when temptation suddenly comes. You think, What is with that? The fact is that Satan wants to undermine what just happened in your life. He opposes immediately. He always will.