Chaos or Subtle?

Last week I was feeling a lot of stress. My class is wonderful and a joy to teach, so I knew it wasn't related to them. I have a good relationship with their parents, so not that either. The marking period had just ended and report cards were done, so I was relieved not stressed about that. I haven't had any issues with anyone. I just couldn't figure out what was causing the stress. All I knew for sure was I was exhausted, no matter how much sleep I was getting. I carry my tension in my shoulders and they felt so tight I was starting to feel like a hunchback. I was stressed and had no idea why, until I had a couple of dreams.

In the first dream I was living in a bright, neat home (now that neat part is definitely a dream!). It was just me and my Riley Girl. We kept coming home and finding little things moved. I was confused but just thought I moved it and just forgot. Then one day we came home and something that didn't belong to me was laying in the middle of the living room floor. It was a small shower head (I don't get that part). I picked up and then I woke up. Right away I heard God tell me that it was about satan. I'll explain more later.

The second dream was vastly different. It was full of chaos. Everywhere I went  I was met by confrontation. Everything I tried was attacked. It was a dark and cluttered everywhere I was. I felt such frustration and was completely overwhelmed by it. When I woke up I once again felt God speak to me about the way satan works.

Now, what I heard from God. He told me that satan works one of two ways. He told me that he has to approach people differently. Those who aren't vigilant and just think everything is bright and easy are easily tricked by him. He really doesn't have to work that hard to mess with their lives. He brings something minor into their life, something that seems harmless but isn't. He twists a truth just a little bit and people don't even realize it isn't even truth anymore. He sits back with his feet up and just watches as the little thing slowly eats away at the person and destroys them.

The other way is actually for the ones who are watchful. He can't just be subtle with them. He has to throw an all-out assault at them.He tries to thwart every thing they do. He knows he has to pull out all the stops. Think Job. He killed his children, destroyed his livelihood, turned his wife against him, and gave him boils. Job had his eyes on God and he had to be attacked to the fullest of satan's power. Remember God to do what he wanted, but he couldn't kill him. So he did. Sometimes this approach has been successful for him, so he keeps using it.

I realized that it wasn't really stress that I was experiencing. I realized that I wasn't being vigilant, and God was warning me. I haven't been praying for my class and my school the way He had asked me to. I started the year off great, but I had become slack. I wasn't spending the time with Him that I need to. I was just looking at all the good stuff and was not watchful. Since then I have begun to pray more and stand in the gap for my children and my school. I have spent more time with Him, but more importantly that time is deeper rather than longer. I am being more vigilant and feel less stress and my sleep has been more restful. Maybe the chaos is to come, but I'd rather that then be blindsided.