The Opposition

I am so glad that when the enemy comes in like a flood that the Spirit of God lifts up a standard against him. So, we don’t have to fear when our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking who to devour. We must be sober and alert, knowing that our opposition comes to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus came to give us abundant life, and we are more than conquerors through Him. We must stand firm knowing the answer to the rhetorical question, “If God be for us who can be against us?” No one. Absolutely no one!!! But the enemy of our soul doesn’t want us to think that.

I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you in despair, O my soul?And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,The help of my countenance and my God. Psalm 42:9-11

The psalmist is in deep despair as he wonders why God has forgotten him. He is grieved because of all his enemy has done against him. His grief is real and profound. It rocks his soul. When opposition comes against us, it will do that to us also. Sometimes we feel bombarded on every side, as we wonder why God has forgotten us. But He hasn’t, and He never will. That is a lie the enemy wants us to believe. However, the Lord Himself assures us that He won’t forget us.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Isaiah 49:15

We can rest assured that God is watching over us and He is with is, never forgetting us. He fights our battles for us against our adversaries, and He never loses.

And he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.” 2 Chronicles 20:15-17

How amazing!!! We don’t even have to fight. The battle is the Lord’s and He is fighting on our behalf.  Take note that God didn’t tell them to run from the enemy. He told them to stand and see His salvation, and He also told them to go out the next day and face the opposition. We may not be having victory over the opposition because we are not confronting what opposes us. We need to stop being afraid. God continues to tell us this throughout His Word.  Fear will paralyze us and make us have a distorted perspective. It makes us think the opposition is bigger than our God, which can never be true. We need to stop believing the lies of the adversary. The truth is when the enemy schemes against us God is not alarmed. Proverbs 26:27 tells us that whoever sets a trap for others, they will get caught in it themselves. And God can give us the strategy to escape the enemy’s snare so, we need to seek Him.

For my eyes are toward You, O God, the Lord; In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless. Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me, and from the snares of those who do iniquity. Psalm 141:8-9

And when God rescues us, we must give Him all the praise and all the glory because He deserves it. He is a Father who never deserts us. And we can be confident the Lord is our helper, so we don’t have to be afraid. What can man do to us? (See Hebrews 13:5-6). However, we must make sure we are in God’s will so that He will fight for us against the opposition.

So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” Acts 5:38-39