Guard Yourself

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith ..." 1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV

I’ve been hacked!

A few years ago this might have meant cut, severed, annoyed, or vexed, but a new definition has been added to Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary: to gain access to a computer illegally. Since hack also means cope, now the word just makes me angry and I can’t hack it.

Several months ago, all my contacts received an e-mail, supposedly from me, begging for money because I was stranded in the Philippines. As if this didn’t cause enough problems and create a huge mess to clean up, a couple of months later my contacts were hit again, this time from both e-mail accounts which had a new, secure password. It seemed I was stranded once again, this time in London. My passport, cell phone, and money had been stolen and there were debts to clear up before the authorities would let me leave the country. All my friends and business associates needed to do was send a money order (anywhere from $800 to $1,800) to Western Union in London and everything would be taken care of. I would be free to go.

As you can imagine, e-mails, texts, and phone calls came in like a flood. Some wanted to alert me that I had been hacked. Others actually believed the bogus information and were attempting to help me. I think a few people who didn’t know me well were trying to figure out why I would ask them for money … period.

Everything was lost—contacts, e-mails, and folders with valuable information. I felt violated. The frustration of contacting my provider through miles of red tape mounted as I created an account with a different provider and attempted to regain some of my lost files. Fortunately, everything was fully restored. Everything, that is, except the time I lost by being the victim of someone’s unscrupulous cyber activity.

Unfortunately, there’s another form of unscrupulous activity we have to be aware of every single day—the lies, temptations, and attacks of our enemy, the devil. He is out to devour us and we are told to: "Resist him, standing firm in the faith." Attacks come in subtle and deceptive ways and we must be vigilant … watchful … cautious. The Bible instructs us to avoid giving the devil any opportunity to gain a foothold in our life. We must know his tactics and strategies and be ready to resist him with the Sword of the Spirit—the living, powerful, Word of God.

Too many times in my life I have been hacked by the devil and his schemes. Thinking my heart was password-protected, I went about my daily routine unaware—clueless that my enemy was out to kill, steal, and destroy. The great news is that God has given us power, authority, and spiritual weapons of warfare to combat every attack. The priceless, shed blood of Jesus is the only virus protection we need and there is no charge. All we have to do is receive.

Our Great Provider is always available. He is on-call 24/7 and there is no red tape to go through when we need Him. All we have to do is call on Him. When we believe in our heart and ask in faith, He has promised to come to our rescue. He will restore everything we have lost … and then some.

Won’t you call on Him today?

Copyright © 2013 Andrea Merrell, used by permission.