Why are breakthroughs followed by breakdowns?

The devil knows our weaknesses... and he HATES it when we make progress...
So whenever we have had a particularly good breakthrough, he launches an all-out attack to drag us back into the pit from which we emerged.  He doesn't realise that it's too late... we have peeped over the edge of that pit and seen the wide open spaces, the gleaming sunshine and felt its warmth.
We have learned the truth: that if we make a mistake, Jesus will gladly receive us again if we just admit our error. Jesus knows that we are under attack from a tricksy adversary who has millenia of experience at trapping frail humans.
This came to me as I sat pondering why in the last 3 days I have barely cracked the covers of my Bible (well, bibleS really - I have about 5 in use).  And then it came to me: I have been scaring the devil by making progress! Well, that IS encouraging! Time to praise the Lord for that: HALLELUJAH!  The devil's primary objective is to convince us that God doesn't care; this is in hopes that we will stop praising His Holy Name. But we will not. Because we know that God LOVES us, each one of us. He sent Jesus to pay our debt: to take our sin, our illnesses, our weaknesses, and to die in our place. Then, because only HE is able, Jesus rose again and has promised that we also will rise. Death is defeated!