Know The Difference- Part III

Focus Scripture: For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (AMP)

It had been sunny all day and then all of a sudden it turned dark. A storm like I have never experienced before came out of nowhere – high winds, rain, hail.  I was getting ready to head out the door and had to stop to pray and ask God to protect me and my home. I don’t get afraid easily, but that storm caused me to become scared for a moment. It didn’t last long, just about 15-20 minutes or so, and I was out the door, off to the next thing on my agenda that day.

I arrived at my destination and it was sunny again. Everything was back to normal. I went inside and spoke to a few people, did some mingling. But after a while, something just wasn’t right. It just didn’t feel the same.

Sensing a shift, I quickly asked God what was going on. “Why does this feel so different?” I just thought I was tired from the day and the feeling would pass. But immediately the Holy Spirit said, “your time here is up.” Tears began to stream down my face. I had so many questions. “How? I love this place. I still have more to give. My pastor always says if you have a burden for something, that’s probably where you need to be ministering.” Then the Holy Spirit, calmly quieted my fears with five simple but sometimes hard to accept words. “But what did I say?” And then, right there, while at the place God was ushering me out of, it started storming outside again.

God sent oppositions.

There are times that God will send opposition your way. He does it for a number of reasons. In my case, it was to move me from a place that He knew I never would have walked away from voluntarily, had He not presented the above oppositions for me to inquire about. Since then, there have been other oppositions I have faced, as a result of me saying “yes” to Him. One was given in yesterday’s devotion regarding oppositions sent by the enemy. Although I had my reservations about saying “yes” to God and being obedient to his leading, due to fear of the unknown. Knowing that you are being obedient to Christ calms all those fears.

As I was sitting there asking God for more confirmation that it was indeed time for me to go, He reminded me of the story of Jonah in the Old Testament.

In Jonah 1:4, the Bible tells us that God caused the men on the ship to encounter a mighty storm because of Jonah’s disobedience. At the beginning of the Book of Jonah, God told him to go to Nineveh, but instead he prepared to go to Tarshish. His disobedience to God caused danger not only for himself but everyone else on that ship. Not to mention after he was thrown overboard, God once again, prepared a fish to swallow him resulting in Jonah being trapped in the fish’s belly for 3 whole days, Jonah 1:15-17.

Have you ever experienced this type of opposition? How did you respond? How will you respond differently after receiving this devotional?

Prayer: My Father, King, Leader and Friend, thank You for opening my eyes to see the truth in Your word according to Hebrews 4:12. Help me to remember that some of my opposition does come from You. I want to be able to know the difference, so I pray that You grant me Your wisdom when dealing with opposition. It is in Your Son Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!