The Phantom of the Opera is there...inside my mind

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The DEVIL.
That word isn't that scary, is it?
We hear about him so frequently in the Christian community and see the little red man with the pitchfork in all sorts of pop culture. Pretty soon the true potency of Satan's strength dumbs down.

Recently, I was searching for a movie to watch on Netflix (the lovely movie database that has the magical ability to eat away hours of one's time) when I stumbled across a live recording of one of my favorite musicals, The Phantom of the Opera and decided to watch it. As I was watching this movie, I suddenly realized that the relationship between the Phantom and Christine is very similar to the relationship between the devil and us. Although the songs may seem very obscure and pointless on the surface, the profound pictures of darkness and light within Andrew Lloyd Webber's work are stunning.
As I watched the movie, I was reminded that Satan is definitely not a tiny red guy who tempts us with drastically lame ideas that we will obviously be able to say no to.
He knows how to entice us in the most frightening, tiny ways.
He is dark and terrifying, yet he knows how to sing softly in our minds, take over our thoughts, until we are under his control.
Does this sound similar to the premise of The Phantom of the Opera? It did to me, and as I heard the lyrics to many of the musical's songs, chills ran down my spine as I remembered times that I myself had heard a voice of darkness in my mind similar to that of the Phantom, whispering to me and tempting me to follow him.
Evil exists. And in our nature, we are fascinated and enthralled by it, just like Christine. 
One song, The Music of the Night, seemed to especially parallel to Satan's techniques of reaching our minds.

Read the lyrics to this song, thinking about it from this point of view. 

A picture of the Phantom and Christine from the 2004 film
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"Softly, deftly, music shall caress you
Hear it, feel it, secretly posess you
Open up your mind,
Let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness that you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the music of the night
Let your mind start a journey through a strange, new world
Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before
Let your soul take you where you long to be!
Only then can you belong to me
Floating, falling, sweet intoxication
Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in
To the power of the music that I write
The power of the music of the night."

Do you realize how dangerous and powerful he is?
If you think about it, this idea is absolutely frightening. Satan knows your every weakness and can blur the lines between right and wrong in the most subtle ways until you find yourself somewhere that you never believed you could possible go. 
That's the interesting thing about sin; it ALL stems from the mind, it all starts when you begin to fight the devil in your mind. From the moment an idea pops into your brain to the moment you finally take action, there is a battle.
Ephesians 6:12 says this clearly: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

We need to realize what we're up against so we can begin to trust the only One who can protect us. Isn't it pretty obvious that we will just be PULVERIZED if we try to stand strong on our own? So now that we know this fact, guess what we need to do? According to Exodus 14:14, "The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still." 
Basically, we just need to stop trying. Stop trying to fight the devil on our own and stop trying to DO the hard thing by ourselves. We need to surrender to God, get to know Him through His word, and start letting Him work through us. 
If we're in sync with God, then we don't ever have to worry about the devil because he can't get us. Here's another song from The Phantom of the Opera that seems to parallel these concepts perfectly. 

"No more talk of darkness
Forget these wide-eyed fears
I'm here, nothing can harm you
My words will warm and calm you
Let me be your freedom
Let daylight dry your tears
I'm here, with you, beside you
To guard you and to guide you."
 - "All I Ask of You"

Wouldn't it be incredible to have someone who loves and protects you THAT much? How much more incredible would it be to have an omnipotent, everlasting GOD who loves and protects you THAT much? He's here for you, RIGHT NOW. All you have to do is trust Him.

"He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide and trembles at His voice." 
~ How Great is our God by Chris Tomlin