IS THIS REALLY FROM GOD?

James 4:7 KJV
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Dear Believer,

Let me share a fundamental truth of the Believer’s life with you: not everything that happens is God’s will.

This is so true and so commonsensical that many miss it. Too many Believers today are taking everything that comes their way or into their life as the will of God.

“Oh, if God doesn’t permit it, it won’t happen, so it’s God’s will. He must be teaching me something through this.”

This is perhaps the biggest lie the devil tells many Believers.

All evil proceeds from Satan. Don’t say God is teaching you something good with something bad. There’s nothing a bad experience of sickness or poverty can teach a man that the Word of God cannot teach him. Evil should be resisted as evil, not accepted as a teacher.

James 1:13 NET
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

Let’s consider diseases. So many sick people were brought to Jesus. Unto none of them did He say, “Your sickness is God’s will, just endure. He’s teaching you something.” Jesus clearly taught that sicknesses were the work of the devil. He healed all.

Here’s what he said about a woman He once healed.

Luke 13:16 NET
Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?”

And this isn’t just about sickness. Satan does all to hinder the progress of God’s people. He stirs people up against you and tries to frustrate your efforts. Do not sit idly by when you notice that things have started worsening. Don’t merely say you are handing everything over to God.

It is true God doesn’t want you to panic. He says to cast your cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7), but He doesn’t say you should cast your responsibilities on Him. It is your responsibility to resist the devil according to the Word of God.

As you walk with God, the Spirit of God may stir you up at certain times to stand against something the devil is trying to accomplish in your life, business, ministry or in the life of your children or family. This may come to you in a dream, or by the witness of the Holy Spirit in your heart, or any other way the Holy Spirit deems fit.

Do not lazilly ignore or avoid this. That isn’t faith, it is presumption. Use the Word of God as a weapon against this. Pray, praise, resist, fast if you are led to do so. At any rate, stand against the devil and claim the victory in the name of Jesus.

Again, this has nothing to do with panicking and descending into fear. Satan came to tempt Jesus. The Lord didn’t panic. He also didn’t ignore the devil, saying He had faith. He rebuked the tempter with the Word of God and told him to leave. Neither Jesus nor His apostles handled the devil with kid gloves.

When you are in doubt, pray. Things happen as part of the natural course of life, but we need to understand that even the very atmosphere of this world is rigged against good things, and this will continue until the restoration of all things. So praying about situations lets God show you in one way of the other whether what you are seeing is the devil’s handiwork, or not.

Never, ever tolerate the work of the devil in your life. Resist it by faith.

Have a great day.

Your friend,
Deon.