Demonic Widows and Teenage Girls

I’m not sure one would put a widow at the top of one’s list of people most likely to be attacked by Satan! Nevertheless, according to the Apostle Paul, numbers of widows were leaving the church at Ephesus to follow Lucifer himself.  

Paul writes to his son in the faith, who he is continually training to succeed as a pastor, in 1 Timothy 5:14-15, “Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach; for some have already turned aside to follow Satan” (Italics added). Widows led away from the faith by Satan.  

Imagine a church staff meeting in which the issue of widows leaving is raised. Someone notices that some number of formerly regularly attending widows are no longer showing up. Any number of excuses are offered, but at no time does anyone suggest the reason they left is because demonic spirits have convinced them to go.  

The lack of spiritual warfare training in the United States is deeply problematic. I researched the course catalogs of six of the premiere seminaries across denominations. Not a single one of them required any warfare training for their pastoral work. Some of them did not offer a single class on the subject. 

Yet, this letter represents part of Timothy’s “seminary” training. Timothy did not have seminary, he had Paul. And according to Paul, warfare training was mandatory. Paul encouraged Timothy to develop a healthy widow program in the church as a reaction against Satan’s effective work.  

But Paul’s warfare lessons were not limited to widows. In 1:18-20, he writes that two men, Hymenaeus and Alexander, are so rebellious that the only thing left to do is to hand them over to Satan. The hope is that the pain of Satan’s work in their life will be so intense so as to spark their repentance. Paul leverages warfare for holiness. 

In 3:1-7, Timothy is instructed to prayerfully add new Elders to his team. He is warned against recruiting new converts and those with good reputations in the community, “…and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6-7).   

Paul is deeply aware of Satan’s schemes to attack those in the church at Ephesus.  

Let’s return to widows and then come back to prospective Elders. A widow is a woman who has lost her husband. In the 1^st century, her husband would have been the one who protected her, gave her a house and a family, and many other things. Presumably, she loved him. And he dies. He is taken from her in whatever he goes. She is alone. In her emotional grief, in her pain and sadness and, potentially, despair, Satan, or one of his demons, is there. Can you imagine what kind of things she is hearing?  

And the widow must be able to hear these things. Satan, or one of his demons, is in her life speaking to her in a way she can hear and understand. If Satan speaks inaudibly or in a language she doesn’t comprehend, then the attack is meaningless. But that is not the case. She can hear and does hear. And she is convinced by what she hears. So, she leaves to follow.  

What about the potential Elder who is a new convert. Paul warns Timothy not to choose new converts for Elders lest they be lured into conceit and Satan’s snare. Can you imagine what kind of things he could hear? 

On the one hand, Satan manipulates a widow’s grief, on the other he leverages a man’s pride. The goal is the same – lead people away from resting in the love and faithfulness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Last night I took my seventeen year old daughter through this “demonic widow” exercise. Asked her what she thought the widow and the new convert could hear. She gave great answers. Then I asked her what she thought a teenage girl could hear from Satan that would lead her away from God.  

On the negative attack, she imagined a girl would hear Satan say: 

On the positive attack, Satan plying on a girl’s pride, she imagined a girl would hear Satan say: 

From the widow and the new convert, it was easy for my daughter to imagine how Satan could target teenage girls. We talked about what the widow and the new convert could do to fend off the attacks. Both needed to be aware of their thoughts. Passivity is deadly. Both needed to trust their Father. And both needed to be aware that Satan actively works to destroy their lives.  

The implications for the teenage girl were the same!  

Spiritual warfare is more real and pervasive than many of us know. We must wake up to Satan’s effective work. We must consider, at the very least consider, the effective role of Satan in the circumstances of our lives.  

1 Timothy can be a great first resource for you as you learn to fight!  

Running God’s race in the OVERFLOW of God’s love is life engaged in war, standing against the fiery darts of the enemy. May you continue to deepen your relationships with others running His race so that TOGETHER you can succeed!