Day 2 - Stand For God

A dear friend of mine sends me daily devotions directly to my cell phone, and everyday I wake up, I am amazed at how relevant God's Word is to what I actually encounter within a given day. For example, I sprained my ankle during yesterday's practice and I immediately reacted in frustration, declaring that my injury was a testament to why I should not have been required to return to Canada a week prior to my Africa trip, just to attend practice during my summer vacation. I was livid; moreover, it showed on my face and in my speech.

Many of you reading this might understand my frustration; however, consider this. Later in the evenning, a friend called my phone extremely upset because her girlfriends had asked her to drive an hour to hang out with them at the beach, and didn't end up going. What is worse, they did not call her to inform her that they had changed their minds; so she ended up making the drive for no reason. All the while, her girlfriends were seemingly indifferent to the trouble they had caused her. I listened in on my friends frustration for about two minutes before I began asking her to think of Jesus on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."(Luke 23:34) I asked her to consider herself distracted and having fun with several of her friends, and to not let what was most likely an accident rob her of her peace. I said this, and after about a minute of consideration I began to feel really convicted for how I responded to getting injured.

I woke up this morning and the devotion read something like, "If you learn to trust Me with your whole being, then nothing can seperate you from My peace. Everything you endure can be put to good use by allowing it to train you in trusting Me." Genesis 50: 20-21 says it like this:

As for you, you meant evil against me,
but God meant it for good, to bring it
about that many people should be kept alive,
as they are today. So do not fear;
I will provide for you and your little ones.
Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Many of us Christians claim to love and trust in the Lord with all of our hearts, but in the midst of our most frustrating circumstances we allow the enemy to take control our thoughts and influence our speech in a negative manner. Though, often times, we are familiar with what scripture says about how to handle such situations, we allow our frustrations to open doors for the enemy to infiltrate and cause us to act against God's will. Moreover, it is mainly through our words that the enemy tries to provoke us to such behavior.

Throughout the Bible, God places a huge emphasis on the importance of words, communication and relationships. In the book of Genesis He breaths life into Adam, and articulates the world into existence. The book of Revelations illustrates how God will one day return to defeat satin with "the sword that comes from His mouth." Likewise, the Bible interprets how the Power of God rests within the complete understanding of God as a Trinity (a relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Thus, if we are all truly made in His image, than how important are the words that we speak? Accordingly, how important is how we relate with each other?

In James 4:7 God says to "Resist the devil." However, I believe that many Christians today make the honest mistake of replacing the word, "resist" with the word, "avoid." What I mean is that we will pay close attention to where the Bible tells us not to eat at the same table as the enemy; however, we ignore when scripture states that if the enemy asks for food or water that we should not deny him of it. The contrast of these two depictions help reveal the implications of God's use of the word resist.

Another word for "resist" is to "oppose", or to "withstand", or to "endure." As contemporary Christians, I believe that many of us fall to deeply in love with the idea of Jesus as the Loving Saviour and Provider of blessings. Moreover, we hold on to the goodness of Christ without ever acknowledging the degree to which He had to suffer; thus, we push away relationships with ungodly people and things as a way of resisting satin. However, Jesus calls us to stand in our faith, and trust in the Lord that He has even satin under control.

As I prepare myself for Africa, I pray that God will continue to assist me in developing my ability to stand firm, and trust in the Wisdom of His Word. Likewise, I pray that all who read this will strive to Trust harder in the Lord. Satin is weak in that he can only manipulate God's truth, in order to keep people from true spiritual growth. By us continuously resorting to negativity, and speaking out of anger, frustration, depression, regret, etc. the devil is able to use these words against us, proving to God that we are unfit to defend His kingdom at the highest levels. I thank God for what He has revealed to me over the last day. And, I pray for Wisdom that we all may begin to stand and resist the devil without fear that God is in control.

"And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see
the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today."
(Exodus 14:13)