LOOK OUT FOR THE DEVIL!
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
I Peter 5:8
We need not be surprised if, right on the heels of a new spiritual beginning, we are beset with double force by the devil. It is a good sign. It is evidence that we are making progress and have aroused him. He will attack body, mind, and spirit to disable, deceive, or discourage. He will make us dull and stupid, will deaden our spirits and lull us into a stupor. A sense of things present will come doubly strong and heaven will seem far away. Unexplainable things will happen and we may fell that God has forsaken us. Right when we expected ecstasy we shall meet melancholy. Instead of raptures, we shall encounter boredom and wonder why we fell more like sighing than shouting.
Be not discouraged. It is a sure sign of progress. The farther you go, the more you may meet with. But greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Your Ally has conquered your Adversary.