Opposition Will Always Arise
BIBLE READING: EZRA 4
From the beginning of time hostility and opposition have always been the order of the day for the children of God. Once we give our lives to Christ and then go a step further by serving Him, we should expect a battle to ensue as we make inroads into satan’s territory. The enemy will never give up without a fight and so,immediately we say YES to Jesus Christ, we should be ready for the battle to begin. The good news though before I continue is, God’s purpose will always be accomplished no matter how long it takes. You can take this to the bank!!!!
Someone said, the greater the challenges of our spiritual life, the more likely the attributes of God will stand out as problems are solved with His guidance; in other words, the more challenging life becomes, the clearer His attributes are seen. When life suddenly becomes complicated due to some unexpected bad news, leaving us wondering where God is in this sudden darkness, somehow through that darkness, the joy and peace of the Lord touches us and we are strengthened from the inside to carry on. We see ourselves surviving situations we never imagined could come our way and we see God’s Name glorified at the end of the whole experience, making our faith in Him stronger.
As I started my in-depth study of the Book of Ezra, I began to understand that opposition is honestly a part of the Christian life and only by trusting fully in God and being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit can we stand. God used a pagan king to act kindly towards His people and return them to their land after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. You would expect, since this was the direct handwork of God, the transition would be smooth, but as I read on, I saw this was very far from the truth. Everything started very well as the first set of exiles left with Zerubbabel, taking with them gifts from their neighbours and articles King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem which King Cyrus had given back to them. I am so sure they must have been optimistic and confident that the Temple would be up within the shortest possible time on their return. They got to Jerusalem and the first thing they built was the Altar so they could worship Jehovah for returning them to their land as promised. It must have been a very big celebration, so much so, the people who resided in the land became envious of them and started thinking of ways to stop them. We also see this in our lives today, where people become envious of our joy. When they see how joyful we are in our relationship with God, they become envious because they do not have the same relationship with Him. They try to turn people against us just because they hate the fact we are happy and content. These people can be Christians, however, they allow the devil use them by letting jealousy take over their lives. We must be careful to check ourselves when the “green eyed monster” tries to raise his ugly head in our hearts. Is there someone you know who God is blessing and you are a bit envious of the person? Do you find you sometimes see others as competing with you in your service to God? Is there someone doing very well and for some reason you just don’t really like the person? Do you talk down on someone with a bigger ministry or bigger influence than you? These are questions we need to ask ourselves and answer truthfully, if we don’t want to go down a path of misery. Immediately you recognise unhealthy competition or jealousy in your heart, please go to God with it and ask the Holy Spirit to help you get rid of it. Do not allow the devil use you as a tool to bring confusion or conflict in another Christian’s life, you will suffer greatly and the person will eventually win. You might think your plans to bring the person down are succeeding, because it will initially look that way but as you will see, as we continue this study, God always gives victory to the innocent in the end and exposes all lies.
May the Holy Spirit continue to guide and guard our hearts in the mighty name of Jesus (Amen)
UNDER GRACE UNDER MERCY