When you are walking in God’s will you become an open target for the enemy. He sees you, in spite of all your fears and other obstacles, still doing what God has led you to do. It doesn’t make him happy – in fact, it riles him up and the intensity of his attacks on you increases. For example:
- You have stepped out and faith and started that business God showed you was His will for you and almost immediately you are bombarded with customer complaints and false accusations.
- You make the decision to tithe in faith, even though it seems to make no sense because of your already strained bank account. You write that tithe check and sow it in love and faith, and then – WHAMMO – your car and washing machine break down at the same time!
- You have been wanting to make a career change and, after much prayer, you believe God has said, “Go for it!” So you take that new position, hopeful and in faith, and the company bankrupts right after you start and you are now looking for another job.
- You are going about your business, helping many others in many different ways – sowing faithfully into their lives love, finances, prayer, counsel and time. All of a sudden, you experience loads of technical equipment troubles. You are ignored by most anyone that matters and you thought would help you. People verbally assault you for no reason. You feel beat up, battered, and wonder, “Why the heck do I even bother anymore?”
What do you do?
Well, the human reaction is to react, to lash out, and to cast away our confidence. The natural reaction is to scream “God! I trusted You. I thought I was doing what YOU wanted me to do; why did it go wrong?” My favorite line is “Good girls are supposed to get the reward!” What do you do when you are doing good, walking the right path, sowing into the Kingdom, yet you are attacked and don’t get the reward?
One: You must know the enemy does not want you following God’s plan! He wants to steal the love and Word of God from your heart. He will do anything in his power to stop you. He will send people onto your path to assault and offend you. As the prince of the air, he will cause all sorts of technological troubles for you. He will do whatever it takes to FRUSTRATE and DISCOURAGE you to get you to give up. We must know this; we must know our enemy and be aware of his methods.
Two: You need to rejoice! Do not rejoice in the trouble itself, but rejoice in Him! (1 Peter 4:12-14)
Three: Allow yourself the time to get from One to Two! Don’t beat yourself up if your first reaction is “Ouch! God! This hurts and I am angry and hurt!” Just don’t stay in that mode.
Four: Stay on the path you were on before the obstacle or offense was thrown at you! Don’t give up on your mission from God. Galatians 6:9 says, “So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.“
Five: Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 At some point, the devil will take a break because he sees your persistence and perseverance.
Remember —
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4
Notice that is says “have overcome”! That means you already have the victory, no matter the attack! God is bigger than it all!
Keep the faith!
Maria Costadini
My Success Box
Terri.com