Phase Three

I had a whole different post on my mind this morning but the Holy Spirit is urging me to post on this topic first. I had a dream about this verse "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" but I didn't know where to find it. As i was doing research for the other topic I was going to post about, the Lord showed me where it was. It comes from the book of James actually. A book that I've only looked through once or twice. James was Jesus' brother and one of the ones that didn't believe Jesus to be the Messiah until Jesus appeared to him after His resurrection. (Talk about an "I told you so" moment!). James then became a leader in the church in Jerusalem and wrote a book that some call the "how-to" book for Christians, as he writes general instructions for how Christians should live along with some more forceful exhortations calling believers to act justly and with self-control.

The part of James I'm interested in is James 4:7 where it says "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (NIV). So many of us skip over the part where we have to submit to God and jump right to resisting the devil.  Then we wonder why we're always coming up defeated in our efforts. I, too, am guilty of this. I can't tell you how much time I wasted trying to piece things together on my own. I was in a relationship for nearly 5 years, trying over and over to make it over and coming up short every time. I kept thinking that if I could just more perfect, if I could just try a little harder, I could make the relationship work. Little did I know that God had a completely different plan. This is the perfect moment to introduce the next phase of Operation: Doin Me.."Be still and know that I am God (Ps 46:10)" As women sometimes we're too strong for our own good. Chill out and let God have His way. We have to stop trying to work things out on our own. Get weak and experience the strength of God.

So, in practical terms, what does this mean? I had to learn the hard way that when God says something, He's going to have His way sooner more often than later. I heard the voice of the Lord urging me to get out of my situation but I was stubborn and stayed. The Lord allowed me to go through a painful breakup to demonstrate what my disobedience cost, when, had I listened the first time, who knows where I would be now. I think I stayed so long, in spite of knowing better, because I didn't want to feel like I was giving up. I didn't to feel like a failure, or that I was weak. I felt that I could endure whatever hardships or grief the relationship brought because God had made me strong for a reason. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong if I tried! The Word of the Lord says that "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me." (2 Cor 12:9). When I first read that I used it as support for staying but when I coupled it with Jas 4:7, I realized that staying was the easy part. Staying was what was comfortable, it required no action on my part. Staying was standing still. By that time, however, it was too late. Words were exchanged, feelings were hurt and I was tossed out in the middle of the night. I could stop here and blame my ex for everything (for awhile I did) but upon closer reflection, I dug that pit for myself. I decided then to put my shovel down and leave it. If I was going to walk with God, I would need the right tools and a shovel wasn't it. (Pause here and ask yourself: Am I weary from walking uprightly with God or am I weary from digging my own pit?). The moral of this story is simple: Let go and let God.

The second part of that verse in James is "resist the devil and he will flee from you". This is where things can get tricky if we are not careful. Remember what I said earlier about how we a ladies need to stop trying to make things work on our own? Well, here's your proof of that. The key word in this phrase is "resist". Resist means not to be affected or harmed by something. A lot of people think it means taking action, and it does, but I think here it's a call for inaction. I say this because so many other verses tell us to let God fight our battles for us and to wait for His vengeance over our enemies. If we simply hold ourselves back from Satan's attempt to lure us into sin, we'll be alright. Another definition for resist is "something (as a coating) that protects against a chemical, electrical or physical action". When I read this I immediately thought of Jesus. If we allow Him to be our resist, a coating between us and whatever action the enemy is trying to take against us, we will come out unharmed.

So, as I wrap things up, let me recap. We don't have to always be so strong and feel like we can do everything on our own. A sign of true maturity, in fact, is admitting our weaknesses and leaning on the strength of the Lord to see us through. Is this as easy as I make it sound? Absolutely not!! The more you practise it, however, the easier it becomes. After all, if you won't choose to get weak for the Lord, He'll only find a way to make you. Be blessed!

Further reading: Jn 14:30,31; Eph 6:10-17; 2 Thes 3:1-3; Col 1:13; Gen 49:18; Jgs 7:2; Neh 13:26; Is 40:29-31; Rom 14:1