There is no difficulty we face
that has never occurred and will not occur again if Jesus tarries. The real
challenge we face, whether as individuals, organizations, nations and/or
governments, is not the difficulty itself; it is knowing what to do to resolve
the problem. Resolving challenges would often require mental effort and/or a
struggle which we often refer to as war. We as believers must remember that our
warfare as well as the weapons are spiritual and this is not without reason. According
to the word of God, which is truth, everything in life starts from the spiritual
realm and that includes challenges. So that real life challenges must be
resolved in that realm from where they originate which is deeper than the
physical, for them to be resolved permanently. Challenges instigated by satan
are spiritual, no matter how ordinary they may seem, and should be resolved
spiritually; the victory in the spirit then trickles to the physical making it
easy to resolve them physically.
2 Corinthians 4: 18 “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now;
rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see
now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
So one of the strategies of the devil
against believers to prevent us from having these difficulties resolved, is to
ensure that we fix our gaze on the things that we can see and in doing that we
rely on the same things for resolution of our difficulties ensuring thereby,
that they are never fully resolved. The spiritual realm is the only place where
we are assured of permanent victory. All we do there is enforce the victory Christ already
won thereby settling our victory if we fight right. So satan does everything possible
to prevent us from fighting right. If we fight in the physical, we don’t fight
right because we fight on the wrong turf. We must be mindful of satan’s
devices. He does any and every thing to destroy our faith in God and His
power/ability to resolve the issues that pertain to us which was already
resolved by God when Christ won the victory over satan. Whenever we think God
is not interested in resolving or is too slow to resolve our issues, then we
resort to working it out ourselves placing us at a disadvantage. Reliance on the
flesh as opposed to leaning on God, does not resolve matters permanently and
that notwithstanding whether they be personal or they concern a people.
Isaiah 36: 6 “If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that
splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand.”
Satan makes sure to spread all the
terrible or vicious stories making the good things God does look small whilst
magnifying our challenges so that it looks like God is doing nothing, which is
not true. The strategy is to kill the faith of the hearers which he sometimes
works slowly to achieve. His pace of work never changes his purpose. Some such
information has such strong capacity to kill faith, it even paralyzes the
listeners and prevents them from doing their own part for the establishment of
the will of God on earth. The information may not be lies outright; they may even
appear true but not God’s counsel for the situation and such is the challenge
of believers in my Country concerning our Country so that if we must go forward
we have to insist on the establishment of God’s will. This vicious information dissemination
must be turned around so it works for us and our Country just like Rahab did.
We have to choose what we make of all that we hear. Satan has used this method
severally and this is one of those times when it must fail. We must, like
Rahab, use all the negative information we hear to facilitate the establishment
of the will of God in our Country. We have to insist on doing what needs to be
done that God’s will be stablished in our lives and Country. We have to make
the evil provoke us to do good for God. We must work against satan’s purpose especially
because like Sennacherib when he was sent by his master to discourage Israel, the
devil wants us to feel defeated before we fight so we don’t fight. Of course when
Hezekiah heard all Sennacherib said, his faith failed but thank God he went to
the house of God where his faith was built up again.
Isaiah 36: 12 “But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, ‘do you think
my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people
to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will all suffer along
with you.”
Rahab heard all the bad news but
chose the path that worked the establishment of God’s will. Whilst others in
her city were ‘gisting’ about the fact that Israel would over run Jericho, she was
working to ensure that the information she had, worked good for her and she
tapped into another life – a life in God, and worked for the establishment of His
purpose. She chose to believe that even in that situation of doom, good would
come for her and her family. She believed so much that she took the risk of
hiding the spies which could have worked against her. She trusted enough to
side with God, a God that she had never known but had only heard of. She
believed enough to take the chance, using her position on the wall for God. Are
you using your own position for God or self? She could have given the men up
and maybe gained recognition of her government but she chose God’s side. What
side have you chosen? God found in Rahab, a vessel that was clean and ready for
the master’s use; are you ready for His use?
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