Review of the Strategy of Satan by Warren Wiersbe

Even as I write this there is an ever-so-vague temptation in my mind to act a bit skeptical about a book on detecting and defeating the work of Satan.  After all, I am a reasonably intelligent man and we all know or have seen or have heard of people who are, shall we say, a bit over the top in their fears and anxieties about the prince of darkness.  But, as C.S. Lewis would say, that kind of wild-eyed fanaticism is exactly what someone as subtle as Lucifer would want.  If people associate talk about the devil with crazy, they will disbelieve in his existence: exactly what he would want you to do.  The fact of the matter is I do believe in the existence of the Devil.  Jesus Christ believed in the Devil and was actually victorious over Satan’s greatest efforts to corrupt Him—a feat no other person has ever been able to accomplish.  Perhaps part of the reason many people avoid the topic altogether or say things like “the only devil that exists in the universe is the devil inside” is because if there really is an objective, malevolent spirit like Satan, it is freaking embarrassing how much influence we have given him in our lives.

I’ve never met Dr. Warren Wiersbe, but have long known his reputation for being a sound and balanced teacher of the Scriptures.  When I found his book The Strategy of Satan: How to Detect and Defeat Him I thought it merited my attention not only because I would like to personally be more victorious over the dark influence of temptation but also because Dr. Wiersbe is not one of the “Church-Lady-Crazies” who is looking for the devil in virtually everything.  I was not disappointed and found this to be a sane and biblically sound treatment of a topic many of us would just assume avoid.

There are many great scriptures and lessons presented in the book but I want to interact with a couple of them that I found particularly helpful.  One of the things Wiersbe points out is that Satan may not touch a person without God’s permission but God does permit such things that in disobedience we may be chastened and in obedience we may be proven and strengthened.  I thought it was also interesting that one of the chief times we should be aware and beware of Satan is when things are going particularly well for us or we have gone to great lengths to obey the will of God.  In one case we succumb to pride and the feeling that we do deserve better than we are getting (the thankful-to-God-but-what-have-you-done-for-me-lately syndrome), in the other we are marked by the enemy because we have served God well and he wants to undo things quickly.

According to Wiersbe another of Satan’s great strategies is to tempt us with impatience with God’s will.  Impatience is a mark of great immaturity and the scriptures continually encourage us to patience in all things.  Impatience is an impediment to realizing God’s will.  In the Bible there is a famous story of King Saul who grew impatient with waiting for Samuel the priest to make a sacrifice to God before they went to battle and so thought he would just himself and disobey God’s law entirely.  Sadly, I see this impatience played out in many other ways as well.  The Christian single that grows impatient waiting for God to provide them a spouse and so they take matters into their own hands and make an infernal mess of their lives.  Or the pastor that is so anxious to gain a reputation as a shepherd and leader that he loses patience with those in the congregation that are struggling with sin and he hastily kicks them out without leaving room for them to repent.  To this the author writes: “When you find yourself impatient, you can be sure that Satan and the flesh are at work, and that you are in danger of making a wrong decision.  When the circumstances of life are irritating, that is the time to beware!  When family problems, friends, finances, or feelings are making life uncomfortable, then you can be sure Satan is near, waiting for an opportunity to attack.  But God has given you a defense!” 

And what is this defense?  Making a clear-headed commitment to follow God even if the circumstances in life are not as we would desire.  Finding opportunity to worship and thank God, knowing that all things are working for the good in our lives.  And probably most important, spending much time in the word of God.  As Dr. Wiersbe so aptly points out, if Adam and Eve found they couldn’t talk to Satan without trouble, we need not talk either, but learn and repeat back the truth of the scriptures which are the will of God.

I’d recommend this book as a worthwhile treatment and Bible based study on a topic we could all stand to learn a bit more on.