Have you ever noticed that when you have done something for the Lord, resistance is right on the heels of it? I can’t tell you how many times I have seen that happening to the people of our church.
In Nehemiah 4:1-23, we see opposition to Nehemiah as he is rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Whenever you step out and commit your ways to the Lord and make yourself available for Him to do miracles through you, you will find yourself in the middle of spiritual warfare. Sometimes it comes in the form of people resisting or distracting you. Many have backed down and changed what they had been doing in order to keep the peace. But not in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and not with you. After examining the situation, Nehemiah says, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes” (Nehemiah 4:14). We need to first test the spirit and see why opposition is happening. More times than not, it will be to stop you from being a conduit that the Lord can work miracles through. There are occasional times when we have done something in the flesh and the type of resistance we experience is a good thing. Look at what Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Since the first hour in which goodness came into conflict with evil, it has never ceased to be true in spiritual experience, that Satan hinders us. Satan will direct his engines against that very virtue for which you are the most famous. If you have been hitherto a firm believer, your faith will ere long be attacked; if you have been meek as Moses, expect to be tempted to speak unadvisedly with your lips. The birds will peck at your ripest fruit, and the wild boar will dash his tusks at your choicest vines. There was never a revival of religion without a revival of his opposition. As soon as Ezra and Nehemiah begin to labor, Sanballot and Tobiah are stirred up to hinder them. What then? We are not alarmed because Satan hindereth us, for it is a proof that we are on the Lord’s side, and are doing the Lord’s work, and in His strength we shall win the victory, and triumph over our adversary.” So be encouraged today. If something has been stirred up around you and it is to resist what the Lord wants to do, then just remember that you are more than a conqueror. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28. “All things” mean “all things!” That means the battle that is raging around you right now. God will use that to bring about the change needed for a spiritual breakthrough. Praise the Lord! Joy in Jesus! Pastor Mike
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Rev. Mike McClurgSenior Pastor, Findlay First Church of the Nazarene Archives
March 2020
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