SPIRITUAL OPPOSITION
After crying and pleading with God for the life of our baby, we finally went to sleep. He tossed and turned, his hand landing firmly on my stomach at random moments throughout the night. Assuming he was praying, I’d interlace my hand and my faith with his until the depth of his breathing signaled he was asleep again.
As I laid there, I remembered just a few weeks ago, I told Credo that the faith I had during our first appointment wouldn’t be enough to sustain me for what was coming.
Confused, he asked, “Are you expecting something bad to happen?”
“Of course not,” I retorted. “I am just telling you now the faith that I have won’t sustain me.”
That conversation, along with songs, conversations with loved ones, recent sermons, and reels I saw on instagram all managed to communicate the same thing to me. I couldn’t quite figure out how each piece fit, but I knew there was more to it than what I could see naturally.
I drifted in and out of consciousness the entire night—waking up to pray, to cry, or just to think. By morning, a word kept flashing in my head: Oshun. It felt like seeing a face I couldn’t place, and for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why this word kept circling in my mind. Curiosity finally got the best of me, so I looked it up, and to my surprise, it was the name of the goddess of fertility. Now, for this word to be running around my mind the morning after hearing that I’d need to evacuate my uterus, very suspicious.
SPIRITUAL OPPOSITION IN THE MIDST OF YOUR FAITH IS A PLOY TO DISTRACT, DISCOURAGE, OR DISCREDIT THE GOD YOU KNOW
Full submission to the Spirit of God gives us a different vantage point on the situations in our lives. For a new believer, temptation might be seen as evidence of their worldly nature, but for a seasoned believer, it becomes an opportunity to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit to cast down those spirits. Where trials might be seen by a new believer as God’s harsh judgment, a seasoned believer finds joy, knowing that in every seemingly impossible situation, God’s glory has a chance to be revealed. Our ability to perceive, interpret, and understand life’s situations shifts from carnal to divine when we choose to align ourselves fully with God. When we consider Jesus being tested in the wilderness we discover the heart, knowledge, and identity we all must embody in order to gracefully withstand attacks from the enemy.
Matthew 4:1-3 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
The Holy Spirit allows us to be tested. The testing of our faith produces endurance, patience, and makes us more like Christ.
Emphasis on the ‘If you are the Son of God’— When you know your identity in Christ, it can’t be used against you.
Matthew 4:4 “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
How do we respond to the enemy? WITH THE WORD OF GOD.
If you don’t know the Word of God you will fail all the tests.
Reading, studying, and living scripture is not optional.
Matthew 4:6-7 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’. Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’.’’
Knowing who God says you are and what He has promised provides wisdom and discernment that prevents deception and ensnarement.
If Satan knows scripture more than you, you will be deceived.
Scripture taken out of context can lead to sin.
Scripture confirms other scriptures. You cannot build an entire belief or idea around one scripture.
Matthew 4:8 “All this I will give you, he said, if you bow down and worship me. Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33. God has already promised that all things will be added unto us when we seek His kingdom first.
“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.” Psalms 24:1. According to scripture everything in the world already belongs to Jesus. If He didn’t know what scripture said about Him, He would have succumbed to temptation.
“For what would it profit a man if He gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” Mark 8:36. According to scripture the gaining of the entire world would be considered a loss if we have to forfeit our soul.
If we don’t know who or what God thinks of us, what He has promised and freely given to us, and how He has equipped us to withstand spiritual attacks, we are going to get beat up and lose battles He has already won for us. Don’t be a fool, study your bible.
THE WORD OF GOD TELLS US WHO WE ARE, THE POWER AND AUTHORITY WE HAVE, AND DISPLAYS GODS UNRELENTING LOVE AND HEART TOWARDS US.
“Now you know I don’t even get down like that.” I laughed. “I don’t play around with false gods.”
“Oh you gotta know God has His hand on that baby,” She replied. “Satan is trying his best right now. He wants you to take the counterfeit. Keep standing in faith.”
“This baby will live or die at the hands of God. Nobody or nothing else gets a say or sway period.” I huffed loudly.
“I know that’s right!” she cheered.
By the end of the conversation she reminded me of who God is and my identity as His daughter. There was a time in my life when I might have been tempted to outsource counterfeit power. Due to my own willful ignorance of His heart and promises, I would move ahead of Him, without Him, in spite of Him, because I didn’t truly know him. But God, in His infinite wisdom, has used moments like this to teach me more about Himself, showing me that spiritual opposition in the midst of faith is an attempt to distract me from keeping my eyes and heart firmly planted on Him.
When we consider the testing of Jesus in the wilderness—and even the testing in our own lives—we must ask ourselves: Are we prepared to stand? How have you prepared? Do you know who He says you are? Do you know the authority He has? We are deceived in the areas we refuse to surrender, and we fall in the places where we tell God we don’t need Him. His Word isn’t something He left for us to glance at every once in a while—it’s where we find Him, where we find truth. It is how we stand firm in a world that tries to knock many of us on our backs.
“indeed i count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing christ jesus my lord.” philippians 3:8
In scriptures, He says, “Who is my mother and who is my brother?” and tells us that, in comparison to our love for Him, it has to look like we hate everyone else—self, mother, father, child, even husband. What a love that is. To count everything and everyone as nothing in comparison to our undying love for Him. It is only right, He counted Himself as nothing, bearing our sin and our diseases, so that we could have an opportunity to commune with Him forever.
He has already done everything for us. He has fully pursued, fully loved, fully sacrificed, and has given us the same power Jesus wielded through the Holy Spirit. If you’re waiting for Him to do more or give more in order to love Him, it’s clear you don’t truly understand what He’s already done—it’s clear you don’t know Him at all. No matter the spiritual situation—whether it’s spiritual warfare, faith for miracles and deliverance, or the exploration of spiritual gifts—the knowledge of God is at the center of it all. Knowing Him well is the key to it all. So, dig deep, study the Word, and discover the true depths of His heart and truth.
