In the Presence of Mine Enemies

Ps 23:3-He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Ps 23:4-Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Ps 23:5-Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

At this moment in time, it seems like I am surrounded by enemies.  No, I am not in Afghanistan.  No, I am not preaching on the streets of Mexico or the streets of America.  I am not writing this to you from the deepest, darkest jungles of the Amazon or Africa.  Those that have chosen to lift up their hands against me are not rapists, thugs, thieves, rebels, murderers or politicians.  They call themselves Christians and they are supervisors at work and church leaders.  Ironic, isn't it?  They call themselves Christians but display characteristics that most sinners don't display.  They lie, they steal, they discriminate and cast doubt upon my own Christian character.  I do not have these problems with the sinners that I am around. 
Does this sound familiar to you?  If you are a sincere, born-again, love God with all your heart Christian you will at some time or the other face situations just like this.  Why does God lead us in these UNrighteous paths?  I thought that the Psalm said that He would lead us in paths of righteousness.  Yet, He did. 
A couple of years ago, I was agonizing over some ungodly situations and the third verse popped into my spirit.  At first, I was angry and cried out to God.  "I thought You said You would lead us in a righteous path.  This is an ugly path.  What's YOUR problem."  As I wrestled with the Lord, He began to teach me.  First of all, I had to understand that He could see farther down the road than I could.  Second, I had to walk by faith and trust that where I was at was His plan for me.  Third, and the hardest lesson of all, I was placed in that situation to see if I would act righteously or unrighteously.  Would I portray a Godly attitude in this ungodly situation or would I act like a sinner.  You might have guessed by now.  I was doing one of my best impersonations of an ungodly person.  I was huffy, arrogant, pouty and borderline obnoxious.  God was running me through this gauntlet to bring these impurities OUT of me, not make them a showcase for everyone to see.  Man that hurt.  I really wanted God to slap the donkeyfazoo out of my enemies and here He was convicting me instead.
Well, here I am again.  But, this time it is worse and coming at me from all sides.  Does this sound familiar to you, too?  As Joyce Meyers puts it, "New level, new devil."  Why does bad stuff happen to good Christians?  Why can't God just bring us into His revival power without having to drag us through the thorns, stones and muddy pathways?  Why do we have to be surrounded by enemies?
Jesus was surrounded by religious persecutors throughout His entire ministry, but He won.  Check out my previous blog.  The persecutions DID have an end.  God DID glorify Jesus with the fullness of His power.  Think about all that Paul went through.  He couldn't go anywhere without being derided, stoned, beaten, jailed and/or run out of town.  But, in the middle of all of this, God chose to show up time and time again in His glory and power.  Souls were saved by the thousands.  Churches were built and thrived.  In his darkest times, Paul wrote the letters to the churches that still reach the lost today.
Even knowing these things, the pressure can still get to us, can't it.  The other day, I was agonizing over the ungodly pressures that I am going through right now.  Let me share with you what God pressed into my spirit.  As I was reaching out to Him for an answer to the question WHY, His answer was simple.  Way down in my spirit came bubbling up, "The times when you are surrounded by enemies are the times when I want to prepare a table before you.  I want to bless you in a manner that you cannot bless yourself and I want to show them.  That's why I have gathered them together against you."  Then, He reminded me of all that Jesus and Paul faced.  He reminded me that the heroes of our faith as mentioned in the book of Hebrews had all walked in places where they were surrounded by doubtful situations.  But, that was where and when HE decided to show up.
The heavy burden lifted from my soul and I am able to face these things with a joyful and thankful heart.  Is it still hard?  You bet.  But, not as hard as it used to be.  I have a deep settled peace that God has something good for me that will bring glory to His name.  I am anxious for revival.  I am anxious for the lost to come to Jesus.  And, I am patiently waiting for Him to get through preparing my table.  It is when we are surrounded by enemies that He desires to prepare one for us.  As Jesus put it in John 14:1-Let not your heart be troubled.