Crushing Chaos

...but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet, (Romans 16:19b-16:20).

What does it mean to be wise about what is good? Simply put, we are to be fully armed with the Sword of the Spirit: God-breathed Scripture written by multiple men over centuries. God is the essence of goodness, and His word is our truth; we must seek wisdom in His goodness.

Being innocent of evil does not mean we do not know how to recognize evil; it means we do not dwell in sin or practice it. There is a difference. If we are wise about what is good, we have grounded our lives in Scripture and understand how to distinguish good from evil. Neglecting Scripture, prayer, and trust in our Savior can leave us more vulnerable to deception and division, but experiencing hardship does not mean our faith is weak. Satan, the creator of chaos, thrives on this division. He works to create division and chaos in every aspect of our lives, and the truth of Christ helps us recognize that chaos and meet it head-on. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Jesus is the ultimate antagonist to chaos. When He died on the cross and rose from the grave, He crushed Satan under His feet. Through faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God will crush Satan under your feet.  

As stated earlier, the amazing thing about Scripture is that many men wrote it over centuries, yet God breathed it. The promise of victory over the serpent appears as early as Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

From the moment Satan introduced Adam and Eve to sin in the Garden, chaos began. They were exiled from the garden, separated from God, and Satan continued to strike at the heels of man. Yet, God came to earth in the form of man, Jesus, who defeated sin and death and crushed the head of the serpent. I challenge you today: be wise about goodness and innocent of evil. Be fully aware of the chaos that surrounds you, but be filled with wisdom from the Word of God and trust His promise to crush Satan under your feet.

Prayer: Father, we praise You for Your living Word. We praise You for Jesus, who humbled Himself, fully man and fully God, and walked this earth to live and die for our sins. Father, we pray that You fill us with unwavering faith and wisdom so that we may be innocent of evil and armed with Your truth. Through that truth, fill us with the wisdom to recognize evil and faith in Your promise to crush Satan under our feet. Do not let us be distracted or divided by the chaos. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.