This post was last updated on September 2, 2026
Day 104 (Year 3)
When the Devil Temporarily Leaves…
“When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13 NASB)
Not long after the devil left Jesus, He began His public ministry. Similarly, some believers are also brought into ministry after experiencing intense spiritual warfare. We should understand that the devil’s attacks are usually intermittent. For many of us, when a period of the devil’s attacks comes to an end, the first thing is often to examine our weaknesses and strengthen our lives, lest we be struck by Satan again. I want to share three points here.
First, fall down but rise again as soon as possible—this is the only correct attitude for us in combating failure. We need to know why we failed and how to change ourselves by relying on God, so that we can overcome the devil’s attacks and temptations in the future. Being oppressed or overwhelmed by Satan in the early stage of faith is a common experience many believers share. Failure can cause discouragement, while experiences of success can lead to pride. Thus, faith must not be solely built on personal experience. Instead, we should humbly accept Jesus’ teaching, asking Him to point out the areas where we need to change and to grant us more wisdom, understanding, and strength so that we can gain victory in the future.
Second, some of the devil’s temptations or attacks might not fully succeed, yet they might have shaken certain areas of our faith. There may be no outright failure, but a near miss. In such cases, we should examine whether any areas of our lives have been damaged or weakened after spiritual battle—including a decrease in faith in God, a reduction in love or apathy for others, or a laxity in pursuing Jesus. In short, we must reinforce our defenses of faith. The devil is indeed very persistent in its work of causing people to sin. It gradually expands. Thus, we should proactively deal with the weaknesses in our lives, seek the Lord’s help, uproot evil tendencies, and strengthen our faith step by step.
Finally, any area that the devil has not yet attacked or tempted—including arrogance or pride, envy, anger, laziness, gluttony, lust, emotional weakness, abuse of power, or love of money—should each be thoughtfully considered. We need to seek spiritual knowledge and godly examples, as well as genuine life progress, to prepare for any future temptations or attacks. Lastly, we need to humbly pray and ask Jesus to give us warnings and keep watch against the devil’s attacks or temptations, because these often come without advance notice.
Reflection questions:
1) Do you have the habit of learning from mistakes and failures and continually improving yourself? If not, where can you begin?
2) In resisting the devil’s temptations and attacks, are you increasingly preparing and adjusting yourself, moving ever closer into Christ’s victory?