Be Ready. Because The Devil Is Coming, And He's Coming After You!!
I could feel them everywhere. Hands. Hands that were pressing on me with all of their might, trying to crush me from the outside in. It was as if I could feel the individual finger tips digging into my skin. It didn't matter where I went or how deeply I breathed, I still felt like I was being crushed. Though the morning had started out fine, something shifted and gradually everything grew dark and the pressure got worse. I felt like I was being shoved into a cage; into a prison.
While I was driving kids to a restaurant we were meeting my parents at for lunch on a Sunday afternoon, I felt the pressure so deeply that I thought I was going to black out. I honestly don't know how I kept my car on the road. By the time I got to the restaurant I could barely breath. It took everything in me to not burst into tears and every move anyone made was making me angry and frustrated. I told my mom I was having an anxiety attack, but that wasn't entirely true.
I wasn't having an anxiety attack. I was having a spiritual attack.
Sure, there was anxiety that came along with it, but I had felt anxiety for years and I knew this was more. This was bigger. This was spiritual.
I think we often forget that there is a battle raging on all around us. The bible says there is...
Ephesians 6:11-17 says we are to put on the full armor of God because the battle we face is one we cannot see.
In John 10:10, it says the thief (Satan) comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it says you will be tempted, but that God will give you the power to overcome it.
But what I love, are these verses of promise that remind us that this is not our fight.
In Exodus 14:14, Moses tells the people, "The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still” as they are trapped between their enemy and the Red Sea.
Deuteronomy 28:7 says the Lord will allow your enemy to rise against you so that THEY can be defeated. It pretty much promises you that your enemy will be coming and putting on the pressure! But Isaiah 54:17 also says no weapon formed against you will prosper. So your enemies can come after you all they want, but they can't do anything to you.
The only one who can defeat you... is YOU.
We all have a choice; we can choose to give up and let the devil have his way in our circumstances, or we can choose to stand firm in what we know to be true. But here is the beauty of standing firm:
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS STAND.
To be STILL.
Let the LORD fight the battle that is His, not yours!
Yes, you are a piece in that battle. Psalms 127:4 says “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.” When life circumstances take your feet out from under you, you have to learn to walk again. You are like a child being molded. You are that arrow! But that also means that you are NOT that warrior.
Yes, you have to be in the battle, but you are not the one fighting, you are the one God is using to fight WITH!
Picture this:
An arrow is a stationary item. It's simple and it's strong with a pointed tip, but on it's own it has zero power and it is not dangerous. It becomes dangerous when it is placed in a bow, and released by the archer. The arrow must rest in the bow and it must wait for the archer to decide not only when to use it, but WHERE it will be released to.
Yes, there is a battle going on all around you. Your hurt and your struggles have left you in the ruins of that battle. But If you are the arrow, it's not about where you are now, it's about where the Lord is going to send you. It's about the target He wants you to hit.
So you have a choice: What bow are you going to rest in and who is going to be your archer?
Are you going to rest in what you think to be true or are you going to rest in the WORD of GOD?
Are you going to let the world decide where you go based on what they think is right, or are you going to let GOD be the decision maker?
Either way, you will be launched somewhere, it's just the difference of hitting the perfect target with perfect aim or slamming into a brick wall and snapping in half!
The devil is aiming the wall and the Lord is aiming for the hearts of others who need to know His love.
It's all about the target. Your struggles, hurt, or anxiety are there for a purpose and that purpose probably has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the target.
I believe that when I felt the deep pressure, that that was the devil working overtime to convince me that I was making the wrong decision. He does not want me doing to Lord’s work, not because he cares about my soul; I already belong to God and he can't do anything about that! He cares about every other person I talk to or encourage. He wanted me to be imprisoned by fear, hurt, and anxiety. He was trying to cage me in.
That day I felt like hands were pressing on me on all sides; that was the day after I had decided to let God aim me in a new direction. I had decided, once again to just be the arrow and to stop trying to be the archer. I had agreed to let God use me; to be His weapon of choice.
So my encouragement to you is this: choose to be the weapon. Choose to rest in God’s truth. Choose to rest in the love and strength of the Father, even when your hurt and heartache seems unbearable.
When you do that, it doesn’t matter how loud the roar of the enemy is when they start to come after you! You are standing in the hands of the Father, waiting to be sent to the perfect target. You are standing in God’s perfect shadow.
That right there… That will make the enemy tremble.
SO what are you going to choose? How can I pray for you?
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