Sore Loser
In “The Life of Antony,” Athanasius presents an account which points out the importance of living a life that is wholly dependent on the power of God alone. While every believer has got the Holy Spirit dwelling within him or her, the believer also has an important role to play in allowing God to manifest His power. Although the devil was already defeated at the Cross when Jesus conquered sin and death, he is far from admitting defeat and will succeed in bringing down those who are not aware of his schemes and attempt to fight him off in their own strength.
As demonstrated in Antony’s life, until Jesus comes again, Christ’s most dedicated followers are the ones whom Satan will attack most vehemently. However, unlike many Christians, Antony never once let down his guard or ceased to place his entire trust in Christ. He was so deeply grounded in his faith – so sure of God’s power to work through him – that the devil never stood a chance against him. At the same time, neither was he haughty or proud about his position as he confronted the devil. Instead, he “fortif[ied] his body with faith, prayers, and fasting” (71). He humbled himself before God and simply allowed God’s mighty power to flow through him and then gave the glory in the victory back to God.
Athanasius brings up an interesting point when he describes how unraveled the devil becomes – how shaken up he is by Antony’s faith – how hurt his pride becomes when Antony does not give in to his deceit. In a rather childish manner, he recoils in insecurity, and then lashes out again when he is able to think up a different plan. This part of the narration truly struck me as to how much power we, the children of God Almighty, actually have over the devil as long as we are fully reliant on God’s strength rather than our own. Had Antony tried to fend off the devil by his own strength, there would not have been any victory. However, because he was able to “[give] thanks to the Lord and with good courage” (71) speak against the enemy with words that we know did not come from himself, the devil, like a kicked puppy, was forced to tuck his tail and run.
As Christians, we can learn a valuable lesson from the way Antony lived his life. Although our lives may be quite different from Antony’s (since it is highly unlikely that many of us will sell all our possessions and live the rest of our lives in a tomb), we will all have to face challenges set forth by the enemy at some point in our lives. Like Antony, we ought to place our full trust in God so that His power would be able to work through us whenever we encounter the devil. We must also constantly be on a lookout, realizing that the more we please God – the more disheartened we make the devil feel, the more he would attempt to make strikes at us. The devil does not know how to lose and when his efforts are being mocked, he retaliates with even more vengeance. Athanasius tells us that “although the evil one had fallen, [Antony did not] henceforth relax his care and despise him; nor did the enemy as though conquered cease to lay snares for him. For again he went round like a lion seeking some occasion against him” (72).
Work Cited
Athanasius. “The Life of Antony.” Christian Literature: An Anthology . Allister E. McGrath. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. 69-74. Print.