1 Samuel 19:8-9
And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.
Saul was no different from anyone today in that he had weaknesses that constantly pulled him down, but sadly, he never seemed to overcome the one evil in his life that eventually killed him. Saul became envious of David after the battle with Goliath. Saul felt that David was more popular than he, and it bothered him that the people felt David did more for Israel than he had done. Not only was he envious of David, but he knew that God had pulled His blessing from his life and had given it to David.
We read that an evil spirit often came on Saul, and when this happened, it often caused him to attempt to kill David each time. What Saul did not do was he never learned what triggered this evil spirit so that he could avoid it. Saul’s trigger that led him to have an evil spirit toward David was war. Had he learned his trigger, he could have prepared himself to avoid the evil spirit. Several lessons can be learned from this situation in Saul’s life that can help everyone overcome their evil spirit of sin that constantly throws them back into the grips of their besetting sin.
First, everyone has a weakness. It does not matter how long you have been saved; you have some weakness that pulls you down. You would be wise to learn what your weakness is, and likely you do know it. Covering your eyes toward your weakness will not make it go away. You will be quicker to overcome your weakness if you will admit that it is your evil spirit that you must overcome before it destroys you.
Second, you must learn what triggers your evil spirit. The biggest mistake many believers make is they never learn what causes their weakness to become strong; thus, they are overcome by their weakness. Many believers live a defeated life because they never learn the trigger that pulls them back to their sin, and they become despondent and pull away from God and church. Learning your trigger does not make you a weaker person, but it actually becomes a weapon you can use to defeat your evil spirit.
Third, avoid that which triggers your sin until you become stronger. Often, that which triggers our sin is a person who pulls us down. If that is the case, you must avoid that person until you have overcome your evil spirit. It sounds cruel to avoid a person, but if a person is pulling you back into your spirit of evil, it would be better to avoid them and live a victorious Christian life than to run with them and live a defeated life of sin.
Moreover, sometimes that trigger is a situation. For some, the trigger is when they are alone. For others, it is passing a place that puts their mind to thinking about their sin. For some, it is a timeframe of their life cycle that pulls them back into the sin that besets them. Whatever situation triggers your sin must be avoided if you will overcome the evil of your sin.
Fourth, do good until you overcome your besetting sin. Good is more powerful than evil; therefore, the way to overcome evil is to do good. If you will get busy serving the LORD and doing the opposite of your evil, you will find that the good will push the evil out of your life, which results in you living a victorious Christian life.
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