Some Burundian proverbs can be misleading.

Take the one that says: “Igiti ntikigukora mu jisho kabiri.” I would roughly translate it as: You do not stumble over the same tree twice. But sometimes you do. Not just twice. Ten times. Even more.

Satan doesn't change a strategy if it keeps working on you. Let me tell you how the devil used the same incident, the same accusing words, for many years, until the Lord opened my eyes and taught me to answer: "No."

I am going to share my three steps strategy to defeat him. Before that, let me give you the background.

THE CONTEXT

This goes back more than twenty years.

I was very young, and God's call was burning in my heart. People of my age were going to secular universities. I was heading to a Bible school in Kampala.

We had just finished our first semester, and I was returning home for the holidays. I was disappointed. The training wasn't what I had expected, and I was both worried and confused about my future.

Our bus was scheduled to leave at 1:00 a.m. I arrived early in town, went to a restaurant, and ate something. As departure time approached, I returned to the bus park and took my seat.

Just before the bus left, I realized I had left my bag at the restaurant. It contained everything I had.

I went to the manager so that he asks the driver to wait a few minutes while I ran to look for it.

He looked at me with contempt and said: "You are not a promising guy."

That simple sentence echoed inside me for many years.

Whenever I went through difficult situations, especially humiliating ones in my ministry, the devil would whisper:

"You are not a promising guy."

But one day, I decided to fight the devil on his own ground. This is how it went.

THE STRATEGY

"You are right, devil. I am not a promising guy. On my own, I am prone to wander. I cannot sustain anything by myself. I am incapable of finding my own way. I will surely get lost.

Did I forget anything? You can remind me."

Then I challenged him. "But did you notice something? I said, on my own.

But I am not alone. He goes before me. He will never leave me nor forsake me."

"By the way, let us redefine the terms.

What is your definition of a promising man? A prosperous man? A man who never encounters hardship? A man who never stumbles? A man who retires comfortably after an easy life?

Was Jesus a promising man? The One who knew suffering? The One who had nowhere to lay His head?

Did He not defeat you through humility? He humbled Himself and obeyed His Father even to the point of a shameful death on a cross. Phil 2:8-11

The Bible says that He endured the cross, despising its shame, because of the joy set before Him. He 12:2

Then His Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him gloriously at His right hand.

He is the One I follow, not your lies.

"If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us."

When the early church was under pressure, they prayed for courage, endurance, perseverance, and faithfulness, not simply for their problems to disappear. The church did not perform any man centered declaration like: I declare that my future is brighter and brighter…I change my circumstances in the name of Jesus. We see early Christians lifting their voices together in unified, praise-filled prayers that acknowledged God's sovereignty and specifically asked for the boldness to continue preaching the gospel and God answered this by filling them with the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts 4:23-31

I decided to pray the same way. And the devil ran away.

I imagine him gathering his demons for an emergency meeting:

"We need another strategy. This one is no longer working."