Yesterday was my grandson’s second birthday. I had talked with my daughter, his mother on the phone the night before and had promised her I would take him to see her after church. Though I don’t want to deprive either of them the opportunity to know each other and spend time together, I find it difficult to hear her speak of her illusions regarding my grandson which are so far from reality. She has illusions of me handing Joshua back over to her someday very soon when she still has so much to accomplish before that will happen. It saddens me to see how far out of touch she is with reality. I was not looking forward to facing this yesterday.
During the worship service in church yesterday I could sense a spirit of oppression all over me. I was distracted and I failed miserably. I could feel the Spirit of the Lord prompting me to raise my hands in praise to worship Him, yet I was not obedient. Instead of raising my hands to praise Him and handing the struggle I was having with this spirit of oppression over to Him allowing Him to fight the battle for me, I chose to hold on to it and continue the struggle.
Pastor Chase came to me and asked me to share part of my testimony with the church. I was caught off guard. I wasn’t prepared. I was distracted and still struggling because I had not been obedient to the Holy Spirit. The devil would have loved nothing more than for me to have refrained from sharing part of my testimony. Yet I agreed to do so even though I was struggling, so he didn’t win completely.
I feel that because I was not obedient to the Holy Spirit and chose to remain in this struggle, I was distracted and failed to meet the mark so to speak. Because I had failed to lift my hands in praise and because I held onto the struggle myself instead of handing it over to the Lord, the devil had succeeded in distracting my focus from the Lord where it needed to be. I feel that because I was distracted and engaged in this struggle I failed to allow the Lord to use me to the full extent for Him to bless others. I learned a very valuable lesson! The battle was not for me to fight! It was His battle to fight for me and He would have gladly done so if only I had been obedient to Him and handed it over to Him.
It is so critical that we walk in constant obedience to the Lord in order to not miss a given opportunity. I never want to miss another opportunity for the Lord to use me as His instrument to bless others to the fullest. How wonderful it is to know that my God is an awesome God who will fight these battles for me and defeat the enemy if only I will walk in faithful obedience to Him.
Exodus 14:14 tells us “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Deuteronomy 1:30 says “The Lord your God, who is going before you will fight for you in Egypt before your very eyes,” and in 4:22 “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.” Joshua 23:10 says “One of you routs a thousand because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised.” Nehemiah 4:20, “Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!” 2 Chronicles 20:15 tells us the battle is not ours but God’s. I will be obedient because I never want to miss another opportunity. I will hand the battles over to God and rest in His promises to fight the battles for me because they are His not mine. I pray that whatever you’re battling today, you will hand it over to the Lord. God Bless!
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