Victory in God's silence

Having been around for a few years now, I have learned a very significant lesson. At one time, I figured I was the only one walking among us who had vulnerabilities and challenges. I thought others had their act together and I was the one loaded with all the insecurities.

Since then, I've learned that we all have our issues. Each of us are different, and each of us have different experiences and triggers which attack our vulnerabilities. Some of us are better at overcoming our issues, and others of us struggle to survive the battles. Sometimes we're strong and impervious, and other times, we just don't have the strength to battle it.

Here's a little exercise for you. Imagine you are the devil. If you were him, and your objective was to mess with you and ruin your day, what would you do? What part of your life would you attack? In warfare, you are always looking to exploit your enemy's weakness. Where are you vulnerable? Self esteem? Drugs? Alcohol? Dead end relationships? Money? Loneliness? Depression? If you were the devil, what would be your number one target?

Here's the thing. When we are most vulnerable, the battle isn't lost when we're attacked. The battle is lost when we perpetuate the enemy's strategy. Imagine a boxing match. Picture one guy beating the stuffing out of the other. Now imagine the guy absorbing the punishment beginning to take over for his opponent by punching himself. You see, when we give in to those areas where we are vulnerable, we begin doing the enemy's work for him. When we doubt, when we get down on ourselves, when we do things to our bodies that are harmful to us and/or others...the devil is sitting back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head and feet on his desk, and we take over for him in blowing up our own lives.

As silly as the picture is of the boxer beating himself to a pulp, how much more sense does it make that we do the same things to ourselves when the going gets tough?

You already know where you are vulnerable. Do you know where the devil is weakest? The only counter strike you need to the enemy's lies is God's truth. Instead of beating yourself with words of negativity, instead of putting things in your body which are destructive, instead of resorting to bad habits which hurt you, begin to recite God's promises for you.

Remind yourself, and your enemy that no weapon formed against you will prosper (Isaiah 54:17), and that you will reject any accusation the enemy hurls at you.

Remind yourself and the devil that greater is the God within you than anyone and anything else who is out to mess you over. (1 John 4:4)

Remind yourself and the devil that you are fearfully and wonderfully made! (Psalm 139:14. In fact, read ALL of Psalm 139.)

Remind yourself and the devil that God has plans for your future. He has good things in store for you. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Many of us are going through unspeakably difficult situations right now. Some of us have been through some horrible things in the past, but the ripple effect still touches our lives today. In these times, I can't promise you that it will all be better immediately. In fact, it's likely that you will have to persevere a bit longer. But this is when our maturity is tested and strengthened. In those dark times, we must choose to focus our lives on God's truth rather than the enemy's lies.

As I was creating this post, I heard a song for the very first time that I want to share with you. It's no coincidence that I heard it when I did, and I trust that this post and the song will speak to you, or someone you know. The song is by Superchic[k], called Beauty From Pain. It is featured in my playlist in the right column of my blog page. I encourage you to listen intently to the lyrics. There are times we question why things have happened to us the way they did. But even in the darkness, even in the confusion, even in the pain, God can pulverize those things together in order to make something beautiful and precious in your life.

Don't give in. Stand strong. Know that God is there. He may seem silent, but His words can be heard in your spirit when you recite His promises to you. He longs to hear your voice speak of His love for you.