Of hyenas, the Dark Lord, and sin

That the Enemy preys upon our weaknesses is well known and often acknowledged, but how often do we recognize or think that he also exploits the disorder in our souls to gain a foothold and trip us on the path of righteousness? A disordered soul is a painful and troubling existence, made worse by him who seeks to devour us. It is through our disordered souls that he most often finds his greatest and most consistent success.

It is in subtlety and deception that Satan excels. Most of us, corporately and individually, are too astute and prepared for frontal assaults that are designed to exploit our weaknesses. But by appealing to our soul’s need for order, he makes attractive what we otherwise would eschew: he offers knowledge - gnosis - to help us order our thoughts and lives. His teaching is attractive to us and is only a slight, almost-imperceptible deviation from the truth of God. We follow and, like the proverbial boiled frog, realize too late how far we have strayed - not from the truth, but from our first love.

- Michael Russell