4 Ways Satan Will Try to Conceal “The One” from You

2 Corinthians 4:4

Here are 4 ways Satan will try to keep you from seeing the one God wants you to marry one day.

1. Satan Will Try to Conceal “the One” from You By Concealing Spiritual Warfare in Your Life

Concealment is one of the enemy’s main weapons against believers. You can’t defend and fight against an enemy you refuse to believe exists.

But spiritual warfare can be hidden from the believer in at least two ways: 1. We can refuse to acknowledge it or, 2. We miss the actual attacks that are happening because we blame everything on the devil. This is what C.S. Lewis said in the introduction of his famous book called the Screwtape Letters:

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased with both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”

Satan’s primary desire is to hurt your walk with God. But since marriage is something made by God for the benefit of his peoples’ walk with God, certainly Satan seeks to prevent and ruin godly marriages. So you must also apply what the Bible says about exposing the devil’s schemes to the process of meeting the one God has for you as well. Ephesians 6:11-12 states:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

1 Peter 5:8-9 also states:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

The Bible tells us what we can’t see. If you are not watchful and you pretend like your battle is just against flesh and blood, it will be much harder to defend against the schemes of the devil in all areas of life, including in your desire to meet your future spouse.

2. Satan Will Try to Conceal “the One” from You By Tempting You to Pursue a Relationship Before You Are Ready

Another common tactic by the devil is to tempt Christians to rush into seasons they are not yet ready for. Proverbs 19:2 states, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” When you apply this verse to relationships, it means that a desire to meet the one without the spiritual knowledge needed for a godly relationship will result in you missing God’s way for you.

Proverbs 20:21 (NIV) also says, “An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end.” Satan wants to keep you from the godly marriage God wants for you by tempting you to rush into relationships. If you try to claim a blessing too soon it will end up being a curse for you in the end.

When Paul was talking about the requirements for elders, he said in 1 Timothy 3:6, “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” The principle to notice here is that Satan seeks to attack God’s people by putting them in positions they are not ready for.

So if you want to meet the one God has for you, don’t set yourself back by pursuing a relationship too soon.

3. Satan Will Try to Conceal “the One” from You By Tempting You to Have a Non-Submissive Attitude Towards God’s Will for Your Relationships

When it comes to defeating the schemes of the devil in our lives, I believe James 4:6-7 is one of the most important passages in all the Bible. It states, “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

There are two actions the Christian needs if he or she wants the devil to flee from their life: first, submit to God, and second, resist the devil. We are to pursue the right way and resist the wrong way. The key is to be submissive to the Lord. Humility says, “May your will be done, not mine.”

When we are being bullheaded and demanding that God do what we want rather than asking God to reveal his will to us, we are susceptible to the devil’s schemes. Rather than praying, “Please, please God, I’ll do anything if you just give me that one person I want,” a more submissive heart will pray, “Lord, please show me your will for this relationship desire I have and give me the strength to obey no matter what you say.”

4. Satan Will Try to Conceal “the One” from You By Tempting You to Look for Your Future Spouse More Than You Are Looking to Christ

The reason Satan hates you is because God loves you. Satan’s attacks against you are not really about you. They are about trying to conceal God’s glory. 2 Corinthians 4:4 states, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

One way Satan tries to keep us from seeing Jesus properly is by tempting us to seek a human relationship more than we are seeking a relationship with the Lord. A desire for marriage is good. Marriage is not man-made. It is God-made. However, a Christian marriage is meant to enhance the Christian’s walk with God and not deter from it. Not only will your walk with God suffer if you put anything before God himself, you will also then miss out on the other blessings God has for you (Matthew 6:33).

If you want God’s will you have to follow God’s way. Ironically, if you search for your future spouse more than you are seeking after God, you will not only miss out on God but you will also be missing out on God’s will for your future marriage.

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