When the enemy targets:
Nehemiah 4:22 “At that time I also said to the people, "Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day."
Did you know the enemy targets to remove help, support, assistance, comfort, compassion and appreciation from you? He leaves you stranded and lost so that at that vulnerable moment , he aims to bring across the worst missile attack on you so that you don’t arise again, is anybody listening to me?
This morning both my workers who take care of very important areas of work at school, told me that their husbands beat them and there was a big fight at home. One month back another good worker left us stating that she got very sick and needs to be operated. It may look normal for you but I can discern the work of the enemy in attacking my workers so that he can sabotage our ministry (so he thinks) but while the cook was leaving I gave her a piece of cake and also few clothes and told her, ‘this is for doing a great job today’, she smiled from ear to ear and went home. The enemy can only try to disrupt the work but he cannot STOP it. Glory to Jesus! Nevertheless, be proactive and prepare for all that might be thrown at you, prepare a check list of all that you may need so that you don’t mess up. Recently when we were preparing for a “leadership camp’ for 4 days, I separately maintained a book with the name of camp on it, wrote all that I had to do and also prayed over it. Even the name of my tailor was in it because I didn’t want her to muddle my clothes or delay the delivery time, the name of the food caterer and everybody connected were in my book. On the first day of the camp, the food caterer came to me with red puffed up eyes and told me, ‘suddenly last night the cook fought with me and walked out’; however, he put a replacement and the food on all the 4 days were excellent(not without chaos though) Things went smoothly because we proactively prayed for the food caterers. None of the neighbors complained because they were in the prayer book too! Glory to Jesus! When we do things carelessly, proudly and rashly then we put the blame on the devil and say ‘oops, the devil messed it up.’ All of us have personal kinks to work out, and we all make mistakes, at least take onus of your mistakes and get on the road of amendment.
Who else can I quote as an example other than Nehemiah who was attacked on all sides, yet he planned strategies to be alert, vigilant, cautious, proactive and smart. In the above scripture, Nehemiah instructed his servants to sleep in Jerusalem and not return home after work so that they would be of help in case of an attack. A Leader should always think ahead!
PLEAD WITH GOD AND NOT WITH THE DEVIL!
2 King 18:26 “Then Eliakim said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
I can never write this piece, without head-on-collision with devils! A short snapshot of the above scripture, king Hezekiah was an awesome king of Judah, who also did what is right in the eyes of the Lord; however, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. The devil does blast the righteous too, so stay in prayer during the good times too! Well, Sennacherib(big devil) sends his assistant Rabshakeh ( small devil) to frighten the people of Israel with threatening and obscenities – that’s all the devil can do. Listen now, when the enemy attacks, you should know how to tackle, that’s my lesson today. Are you there? Hezekiah sends Eliakim, his assistant to speak to Rabshakeh who was bombarding the people of God, he said: ““Please speak to your servants in Aramaic..” Oh, Hezekiah’s assistant goofed! Don’t you ever say ‘please devil’, don’t attack us, now that he knows your weakness, he would pound you more, the Bible says, Rabshakeh screamed more ‘louder’. Don’t plead with the enemy, plead only to God! Don’t you ever react in front of the enemy, stay calm and composed, ah, now you understand?
The next point we learn from the above scripture, is that, do not send the wrong person, who has no anointing, wisdom and acumen to tackle serious issues, someone needs to hear this. Depute the right person; however, king Hezekiah advises the people to do something awesome, he said, ‘people, be silent.’ Brilliant! The people obey the king. When someone is screaming, stomping and menacingly coming towards you, ‘leave the place!’ The Bible says: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7) You sure need help when the attacker is violent, so submit to God, He will give you the wisdom to act.
Let me tell you, behind the cute pictures that you guys view about our ministry, every day I have to deal with uneducated, at times quarrelsome parents who stand and argue. Handling the free hostel, ABIDE ANGEL HOME, has become a challenge for me, because, out of the blue, the parents calls me 100 times and say, ‘send my child home for this and that’, if I refuse, ‘they fight.’ Before I got to sit to type this devotion, I got a call from a parent , ( this happened on a Sunday when I needed rest) she was pestering me to send her children home. I refused, she kept calling me several times, in the evening, I patiently heard her and finally said, ‘NO.’ She disconnected. Ha Ha….learn to be firm with the enemy! Good day!
Control that mind….
Romans 15:30”Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.”
Prayer changes people’s mind! This is imperative! Don’t you ever think, you could get away easily while dealing with the secular world – it’s going to be pretty tough; did not Apostle Paul say:” …in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15) Remember always you’re in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation! Well, if you are a person not so close to God and not so close to Church and Bible, then you would not be attacked much by the evil forces, because you already belong to the ‘devil’s gang’ ( shoot me for saying this); however, you may not be perfect, but still if you are striving really hard and making all efforts to walk with God and for God, then be sure to be bombarded – fear not anyway, learn to be wise to confront such issues.
It was the last day of submitting the papers for ‘permit’ (I would keep all department names anonymous for safety sake), we were doing everything with fasting and prayer, if we miss that date then things would stagnate. The officer on the phone screamed at me saying, ‘why did you go to the main office, go through me’, I kept the phone down and identified the evil behind that voice and went ahead and submitted the papers anyway and received the stamp on our copy which said, ‘September 31’ which was the last date of submission. You got to pray over the mind of the enemy so that he does not sabotage your plans, life and the work of God!
Remember the devil can plant thoughts in the mind of people and make them go against you, so make every effort to pray and read the Bible before you leave for work, before you start the day or before you launch out to do something for God. Pray, pray, pray, pray….that’s the only thing I advise you today. When I started the luncheon prayer cell in the afternoon while I was working several years back for a bank, I would first go on the terrace where we gathered and I would pray over that place and only then start. Paul knew the important of prayer, that’s why he pleads, ‘strive together with me in your prayers to God for me..’
Mathew Henry said:” “As God must be sought unto for the restraining of the ill will of our enemies, so also for the preserving and increasing of the good will of our friends; for God has the hearts both of the one and the other in his hands.”
