2118) It’s interesting when you see a child having a tantrum, and you ignore it, the child will often rev it up, to see if you can still say no. This can go from mild crying to screaming at a pitch that seems it could break windows.  

I think it’s interesting to note if you expect the increase of the tantrum, it’s easier to not give in and reward bad behavior.  

Connected to this thought, but in a different subject, Luke 4 describes Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness. With each jab of temptation, Jesus uses scripture to defend against this evil one.  

This morning, while reading this passage, I noticed something I must have always skimmed over in verse 13. Here it tells us Satan retreats from Jesus until a better (opportune) time.  

Satan plans to up his attack on Jesus when Jesus is in a more vulnerable space. One such time is when Jesus was speaking to his disciples about his upcoming death. Peter vehemently says in Matthew16, this shall never happen.   Jesus knew he would be tempted beyond human understanding. He didn’t, as a human, want to suffer through the upcoming execution of his life.  

Ready for Satan’s next move, Jesus tells him to get behind me! (Matthew 6:23).  

If we can discover areas of vulnerability in ourselves, we can prepare strategies ahead of time to combat Satan with the full armor of God.  

It’s vital to remember Satan will shoot directly into our vulnerabilities and we must be prepared.