“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12: 1 – 2
For many who are determined to keep standing despite the circumstances, it feels like one of the most difficult and trying seasons yet! The devil has intensified his attacks and now he is trying to push all the buttons to cause you to fall into frustration, depression or anger in order to make you decree/say/confess things that are opposite to what God wants you to declare, believe, embrace and act on in this season!
The devil recognizes that something is just up ahead for you, and if he can get you to function according to his bidding and influence, then he will have you where he wants you functioning according to his will rather than the will of God!
We cannot … no … MUST NOT allow ourselves to react when the enemy pushes our buttons! People will say all kinds of unkind things to us in this season. Others will deliberately do things in order to get a certain response from us to satisfy their deep desire to see us be as miserable as they are inside! Jesus endured the cross as He stayed focused of the ultimate goal and greater joy- our salvation and eternal hope! Instead of reacting to all that distraction, and allowing just anything that comes to mind to exit our lips in response, let us exercise spiritual maturity this time around, and ignore the devil’s weak attempts to resurrect the old us! Let us choose to stay focused and not miss a blessing!
Let us always keep this in mind, the devil did not write your story and he didn’t write mine! He is a mere character in God’s manuscript of our lives but we determine whether or not he has a speaking part in our lives! As the Word of God reminds us, it is GOD Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith!
It is God the Author Who writes all our stories and orchestrates events and causes paths to cross! He is God so He knows what the outcome of each event in our lives will be – or already is – He wrote it! Furthermore, because He is the Divine Playwright, we should always consult with Him on the parts we’re not clear on, and trust that He knows what He is doing and what He wants to do with His characters – and HIS stories – our lives!
Keep in mind always, the devil didn’t write your story, so misery, depression, frustration, hindrance of your blessings, sorrow, sadness, destruction and eternal death need not be your portion! John 10: 10 – 11 reminds us, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Furthermore, God is faithful to His Word and His promises, and He reminds us in Isaiah 55: 10 – 13, ““For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. “For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Whatever the Lord says, He will do, but it is up to us to trust what He says, accept what He says as truth and to believe Him to the point where we are already thanking Him for the great things He will do and consider it already done!
Now it would also serve us well to remember that God is not only the Author but the Finisher – which means He refines the work! He does the fine-tuning of the manuscript and when He is done, nothing can change or tarnish it! He is of course, the Alpha and the Omega so everything starts and ends with Him and He always has the final say! He did say in Jeremiah 29: 11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Not only that – God is for you!!!!! If God is for you, who can be against you? Don’t you remember that when God is with you, then there are more with you than are against you?
Keep standing and stay in God’s presence! Don’t react to the distractions! You are about to cross the threshold of God’s promises for you! Don’t let the enemy get a speaking part in your story and dictate a negative outcome! Stick to the Script God wrote for your life!
Love and Blessings!