Opposition. It’s not a thing many of us love dwelling on, but Paul tells us not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices. We’re with CS Lewis (in his preface to 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.” … So let’s not do either of those. But there’s no denying that when church is being church, there are powers that want to oppose us. So what should we do about it? How should we engage? The starting place is always the same: know how much God loves us... know how He feels when bad things happen to us however they’re caused. We can’t go around attributing all bad things to the evil one, but maybe that isn’t the point. Whoever is to blame, ALL of the pain and trouble and difficulty we face in this life was felt by Jesus on the cross. He knows what we’re going through and He promises to be with us in it.