Does this sound familiar? Has something raged and raged in your life? Does it feel like you are wandering around in darkness? Do you long for relief or even just a small ray of hope of some description?
All of us face times like this. It could be fear, anger, frustration or just hard times. Things that should have stopped after a couple of days begin to linger around for weeks, then months, then days.
We struggle with them. We pray about them. We fuss about them. We can't get them out of our minds. We begin losing our temper over nothing. We fuss at our spouses and children for no reason. We tend to make mountains out of molehills. Then, after we've said some terrible things to the ones we love, we have another hurt that just doesn't seem to want to go away.
Everyone on this earth has faced these situations. Everyone has been trapped by them from time to time. Sometimes the small traps become a prison with no door. You don't remember how you got into them and you sure don't know how to get out.
It's times like these that the enemy tries to tell us that all hope is gone. He reminds you of your mistakes. He reminds you of how many times you've tried and failed. He lies to you about God's inability to answer your prayer. He even gets on one of your last nerves by screaming in your ear that God really doesn't love you. The devil's favorite line---"If there really was a God and He really cared for you, He would have answered your prayer right now. And ALL YOUR HOPE IS GONE."
This scripture is from the account of one of the Apostle Paul's shipwrecks. Yes, he actually went through three shipwrecks. (2 Corinthians 11:25) During one of them he spent a night and a day in the open sea. Paul was also stoned, beaten with rods, left for dead, run out of town and was arrested on several occasions.
But, you'll never hear Paul complaining. On the contrary, this guy was always looking on the bright side. He was always telling people to cheer up and place their hope in God. Romans 5:2-7--NIV--And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance: perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Paul knew a secret. He knew how to turn the tables on the devil. He would start out by bragging on how bad the devil was doing him. BUT, he always finished up by declaring that the love of God was greater than anything he faced. Even though he admitted to going through hard times, he always gave glory to God because God was faithful to deliver him.
In the depths of Paul's trials, he never gave up his hope in the Lord, no matter how dark and stormy it was. The definition of the word 'hope' is 'the happy anticipation of good'. In Romans 8:28 he declared that all things (even the bad storms) would work together for his good. So he looked for God's good in everything. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, he encouraged his readers to give thanks in every situation. Look that scripture up and notice that he didn't tell them to give thanks FOR the situation. He said to give thanks to God while we are going through the situation.
Why would he do that? Now here's the greatest secret of all. If you'll consistently put this into practice, you'll get the promised reward. Look up Matthew 21:16. "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise. Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2 (NIV). "Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger."
In a very short and concise way Paul was giving his readers a short and easy tutorial on how to defeat the devil. This is how you feel at ease if there is a storm. This is how you bring an early end to the forces of evil that might be warring against you or your loved ones.
Simply open up your mouth like a little child and begin praising God for how good He is. Thank God for the good things He is bringing your way. Praise Him for His goodness and mercy. Tell Him how much you love Him and how much you appreciate Him loving you.
Just like a jilted lover the devil will slink off in search of easier prey. God's Love and His Word will cause the enemy to stop his attack against you.
The rest is simple. Keep praising and rejoicing to keep the enemy at bay. Happy praising folks.
No comments:
Post a Comment