Is anyone else tired out there? Are you ready to give up the fight?
There can be so much resistance in our lives that sometimes we just want to give up fighting.
Not to rehash too much, but…the flooded basement and COVID stopped my podcasting this year. (The basement was finally fixed a little over a month ago; thank you, Jesus!)
Then, the website I hosted my Mindset quiz on decided to jack the price up to $100 a month. I am working my way to getting that set up again.
Health problems were a struggle for months on top of everything else. The list could go on and on with battles that were so very painful and hard.
The hardest of all has been being a caretaker in a very painful situation. I am grateful I can serve, but the mental anguish that goes along with this role is agonizing.
Honestly, there is so much more, but I do not want this to be a gripe session. If anything, my hope is to convey the resistance I have been under that you might not be discouraged when you also encounter it.
Suffer for His Glory.
Peter tried to warn us about this, too:
“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world” (1 Peter 4:12–13, NLT).
Suffer with Joy.
Be glad in fiery trials? Yes. Suffering has a way of minimizing sin in our lives. It makes us realize what matters most. Peter once again shares on this topic:
“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin” (1 Peter 4:1).
What do you do when you have resistance from your family? Your church? Your work? Scripture offers different solutions depending on the situation, but all these methods have one thing in common: Don’t let resistance cause you to doubt that God can handle it.
Kick the dust off your feet (Matt 10:14).
Matthew 10:14 sounds a bit sassy. Kicking the dust off our feet and getting out of dodge feels contrary to the peacemakers we seek to be. But there is a time when this is appropriate. When we are met with so much resistance and persecution, God might just be using those circumstances (praise God!) to move us to another assignment that might be more receptive.
This is not giving up as in defeat, but giving up and letting God take care of the resistance. Which brings me to my next point.
Keep God in the Battle (Deut 20:4).
Another way we surrender is by remembering that the battle is the LORD’s. Truly it is. We need to have eyes that see the bigger picture, not just the here and now. If we fight from a fleshly point-of-view, we fight for our own glory, not God’s. God is doing more than we know. Believe in Him. He has already won.
Flee (James 4:7)!
I remember being called “chicken” when I eluded those who wanted to beat me up in middle school. It turns out that fleeing is the way to go when we are under attack. Attack is an obvious sign that it is the enemy at work. When we sense resistance, we need to resist the resistance by submitting to God and fleeing from the enemy.
Fear not (Matthew 10:28)
We do not have to be afraid when we encounter resistance or persecution. Jesus did, too. Temporary resistance pales in comparison with eternity. Fearing God puts all other fears into perspective.
When people come against you, they are being used by the devil. We don’t have to use their weapons of warfare. Prayer is vastly more powerful than any human tactic.
So, when I have encountered a lot of resistance, I cried out and asked God to help me, and I gave up. That is, I gave up striving and told Him I needed Him to remove the obstacles or give me the strength to go through them.
This week’s mindset hack reminds me to see the big picture. Don’t let the walls close in on you. God holds the whole world in His hands.
All for Jesus,
Denise