Why all this opposition?

 

Why, if I am doing everything that I know to do with this work, with this ministry, am I experiencing all of this defeat and opposition? Am I doing something wrong? Am I just no match for the satanic opposition?

 

Consider Jesus. Why was He crucified?

 

1. Envy and jealousy from the religious parties. They could not heal lepers, He did, they could not cast out demons, He did, they could not make the blind to see, He did. Even after Peter and John raised the man at the Gate Beautiful in Acts, the religious admitted that it was a miracle, yet they asked how could this trend be stopped.

 

2. Political and religious control. Throughout the entire Bible this is a theme of opposition, especially in the Book of Revelation. These two groups often form an alliance because their control is threatened by Jesus, or by His Body.

 

3. Satanic schemes. Behind the minds of the religious, the political and the envious is the mind of Satan. He has always wanted to kill God and at least thwart His plans. Behind murder, behind the Holocaust there is a satanic mind behind the minds of the perpetrators.

 

4. However there is a mind beyond all of these minds! It is God Himself. God could have saved Jesus from His death, but He loved us so much that He saw to it that He was crucified. This was the way to victory over the spiritual enemy.

 

So it is with you. If Christ is in you, then you must also live out this life of opposition, however you, like Jesus, must see God behind the entire plan.

 

An excellent example is Habakkuk. He asked God, in a very bold question, why God would allow the evil Assyrians to come against His own people, the Jews. Habakkuk did not think that to be fair and just. He knew that the Jews were not perfect, but look at the evil Assyrians!

 

God was glad that Habakkuk asked. He told him to write down this answer on a short to the point tablet so that all who were running by in a panic could understand.

 

God told Habakkuk that the Assyrians simply thought that they were coming against the Jews, while all the while it was God Himself who had a hook in their noses to bring them against the Jews. Why? So that the Jews could defeat their enemies.

 

How can we defeat our spiritual enemies without a battle. This is judgment time, the time between Pentecost and the end of all things. Judgment on us for good, turning our curses into blessings, and judgment on the enemy for their ultimate destiny, which is defeat and the Lake of Fire. As we overcome these attacks we are bearing fruit for His Kingdom, and at the same time participating in "The day of vengeance of our God!"

 

So do not be discouraged at your opposition. Look up and see the Mind, behind the mind or the minds, and know that God Himself is trusting you with His Kingdom work.

 

"Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls-- Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments" (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

 

Amen

 

Larry Chkoreff July 17, 2003