The Devil's Two Strategies: How Stress and Success Put Us to Sleep

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Ever feel like you're sleepwalking through your spiritual life? You're not alone.

In this eye-opening exploration of Romans 13:11-14, we uncover the alarming reality that many Christians have fallen asleep in the midst of a spiritual war. The statistics are staggering: Americans spend over 4.4 million years monthly streaming TV, 215,000 years playing video games, and 2.5 million years scrolling social media—yet claim they "have no time" for spiritual growth.

The enemy's strategy is brilliantly simple. Unable to defeat God directly, he instead lulls God's people to sleep through two primary tactics: overwhelming stress and comfortable success. When stressed, we seek escape through various distractions and self-medication rather than turning to Jesus. When successful, we become complacent, forgetting there's a battle raging around us. Both conditions keep us spiritually unconscious.

Paul's urgent message to "wake up" isn't just about avoiding sin—it's about recognizing that salvation is nearer today than yesterday. In moments of crisis, we default to our lowest level of training, not our highest. Have you been training yourself to turn to Christ or to temporary comfort? What fills your mind daily—social media feeds or God's truth?

The solution is wonderfully straightforward: "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ." This means intentionally wrapping ourselves in His character through careful choices about what we consume, how we spend our time, and where we turn when life gets challenging.

Wake up. The night is far gone, the day is at hand. The world doesn't need more sleeping Christians—it needs believers who are alert, engaged, and actively participating in God's redemptive work. Where have you been sleeping, and what will it take for you to wake up?