Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I am your host Danielle Townsend and
today's episode Today's episode has been a while
in the making Is the best way I can word that
is it has been trial tribulation testing learning
To put me in the space to be able to confidently
speak on this to you today and y 'all today's
episode We're going to focus in on dealing with
opposition dealing with opposition moving forward
as a follower of Christ with opposition How to
do it The Christ like way how to do it in the
way that honors God. And those of you who have
been listening to this podcast for a while know
that I have not always handled things the Jesus
way, the biblical way, the loving your neighbor's
way. There was a time in my life before I gave
my life to Jesus that I wanted to hurt people
back, that I said mean things. That I went out
of my way that I sought revenge that I did all
these things. I held people in unforgiveness
and I saw the bad fruit as a result of that I
Know what it is like to lean into the flesh the
Mindset I'm in now and the way I handle things
now is not I'm gonna be so clear the way that
I have always handled things I used to have a
very different perspective I used to be one of
those people that wanted to show just how far
I could go so that way someone wouldn't mess
with me again. I wanted to be that person that
could deal justice and that was coming from a
space of hurt, that was coming from a space of
pain and Jesus Christ showed me another way and
that that is what we are going to discuss today
is how to handle opposition in a way that honors
the Lord and the way that you're going to see
God's will shine through. You're going to see
God's promises show up. You are going to see
the glory of God. I want to start. I just want
to start today's episode with reading Ephesians
6. Now we're not going to deep dive on Ephesians
6 at this moment, but I just want to open up
today with reading this to you, okay? We're going
to start Ephesians 6 verse 7. that both their
master and yours is in heaven there is no favoritism
with him finally be strengthened by the lord
and by his vast strength put on the full armor
of god so that you can stand against the schemes
of the devil for our struggle is not against
flesh and blood but against the rulers against
the authorities against the cosmic powers of
this darkness against evil spiritual forces and
the heavens for this reason take up the full
armor of god so that you may be able to resist
in the evil day and having prepared everything
to take your stand. Stand therefore with truth
like a belt around your waist, righteousness
like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled
with the readiness for the gospel of peace. In
every situation take up the shield of faith with
which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows
of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation
in the sword of the spirit, which is the word
of God. Pray at all times in the spirit with
every prayer and request and stay alert with
all perseverance and intercession for all the
saints. Pray also for me so that the message
may be given to me when I open my mouth to make
known with the boldest the mystery of the gospel.
For this I am an ambassador in chains. pray that
I might be bold enough to speak about it as I
should and I want to highlight here to y 'all
where it's made very clear that even even today
we are in a spiritual battle with dark forces
dark principalities that we can't see it's very
easy to get in the mindset of like Me versus
them on a human level right when you look at
someone who is acting as opposition When there's
someone who's lying when there's someone who's
gossiping when there's someone who's slandering
when there's someone who is doing wicked things
It's easy to look at that person and just say
this is my enemy This is the person I'm battling
against and when you look at it that way. It's
a very easy to quickly rely on blushly methods
To rely on our humanistic methods right of wanting
to gossip back Wanting to expose this and wanting
to reveal this or show this you start doing things
to hurt that person But when we read the scripture
and when we are rooted in this scripture instead
we're able to see That there is a bigger force
behind this person When you are a follower of
Christ When you are doing things that glorify
the kingdom of heaven when you are doing things
That further God's will we know that the enemy
comes to steal kill and destroy the enemy the
devil his main mission here is to stop God's
will is trying to get involved trying to intervene
and we know that the devil can't actually do
that Okay But he tries to anyway He tries to
separate us from Christ. He tries to get us to
lead other people astray. He tries to get us
to not put our faith in Jesus and to not serve
God. Right? So understand that every moment of
every day there is a spiritual battle going on
that we cannot see. The forces of light, goodness,
which is God, Jesus Christ, the angels in heaven,
and the forces of darkness, Satan, the fallen
angels. The demonic forces that play off of the
wickedness the wicked desires of our flesh So
yes the devil operates through vessels through
people just as we are vessels For God to be used
to spread the gospel to show people the love
of Jesus To you know open up doors to do different
things like that. The devil will use people to
try to create blockages, to try to plant seeds
of doubt, of fear, of worry. What was it the
devil said to Eve in the garden? Did God really
say that? The devil loves to plant little seeds
that get you to doubt god that get you to question
the bible that get you to question the word of
god that get you to question whether or not jesus
actually is the way the truth of life because
if he can get you to start doubting he can get
you to start going away and going astray the
devil oftentimes doesn't meet us with outright
lies he meets us with deception which is truth
with lies sprinkled in or lies with truth sprinkled
in. It's easier to believe a lie when there are
certain aspects of it that look like truth. And
I think it's really important that we start off
this episode today of recognizing that we need
to separate the spiritual from the person. Yes,
a person can be willingly allowing themselves
to be used by the devil, and we know how to handle
people like that. We know to avoid a divisive
person. to not be in closeness with them that
we can pray for them but we're not supposed to
cast our pearls before swine we know if someone
is a willing vessel for the enemy the devil that's
not supposed to be our close person that's not
supposed to be our confidant the most loving
thing you can do is turn them over to god and
pray for them but we need to understand the bigger
thing at work here which is the principalities
the darkness the wickedness and when we're able
to see that our real enemy is the wickedness
the darkness that is moving through these people
it's a lot easier for us to start handing that
battle over to god right it's easier for us to
start saying okay me gossiping back me saying
this me doing that isn't what is actually going
to win this battle isn't actually it's just going
to perpetuate things what's actually going to
win the battle is Handling it from a spiritual
sense, which is praying about it, which is giving
it to God which is submitting to God's Word The
spiritual battle isn't won by our our fleshly
Methods by our humanistic methods. It is one
In the spirit right it's one by giving it to
God so I just felt it was really important that
we separate that right here. It's going to help
you kind of digest and be a bit more open to
the steps I am about to give you. Now we're going
to be pulling a lot of scripture today and I'm
going to be giving you a little bit of a list
that God really helped me create this morning
in my private time with him. When I look back
How God started changing the way I handled opposition
and I handled Warfare and I started doing things
the Jesus way instead of my way. These were the
most important milestones these were the most
important views and Like beliefs that were developed
in me that helped me And that's what I'm gonna
take you all through today. I want to start just
real quick with identifying different places
where opposition can and will arise out of your
life. The devil is going to use your family members,
the people who are lukewarm, the people who are
unbelievers, the people who are submitted more
to their flesh, who follow their heart, who whatever
it is that they are putting their faith in before
God. He will use those people. He will use those
people to get you to doubt what God said You'll
find those people saying to God really say that
Yeah, that sounds good, but I think you're much
better off here. I think you're much better off
doing this Look at how the devil tried to use
Peter Peter loved Jesus Peter loved Jesus But
when Jesus was saying hey, I have to do the will
of the Father and there's gonna be a day when
I'm no longer here Like Jesus was saying I am
about to suffer But it's a good thing and Peter
out of his love for Jesus was like, no, no, you
can't do that. No, that's not that's not a thing
You're not going to die. You're not going that
that's not gonna happen and Jesus had to say
get behind me Satan You will not block the will
of the Father in that moment No, Peter was being
led not by submitting to God but by his heart
and his desires. And out of a loving space, it
was like he was trying to get Jesus to doubt
what he was supposed to do. And that was the
moment where Jesus was able to identify that
this is not coming from God. This is a form of
opposition. Even people who love the Lord, who
follow Christ, Who are submitted they can be
used in moments When they are leaning into their
flesh When they are overcome by their hearts
desires when they were leaning more into what
they want and not submitting to God in that moment
Sometimes the words that they speak to us Can
actually cause fear and doubt and misguiding
and that's not saying that that person is always
being led by Satan And that that person is like
an agent of Satan We're humans That have the
fleshly desire that are tempted When that original
sin came into the world keep in mind y 'all that
the devil is always prowling around Demons are
always prowling around They whisper in your ear
and make you think that some of these thoughts
are yours when they're not And in moments of
weakness there are times when we lean into that
instead. That doesn't mean that that person is
a child of Satan. So it's important to test the
spirit behind messages. It's important to test
the spirit behind words that someone is speaking.
It's important to look at it and say, is this
contradicting God's Word? Is this trying to plant
seeds of doubt? Is this trying to plant seeds
of fear? So I want to be so clear that Christians
at times, people who love the Lord, When they
are in a moment of being led by their flesh Being
led by their heart Instead of being led by the
spirit Can be used to create doubt But the people
that you're more often going to see being used
are the people who are lukewarm Are the people
who their lives are not centered around Christ?
Are the people who elevate themselves elevate
idols all of these things that tell you to follow
your heart and right now we're talking about
more of the opposition that looks like it's from
a space of love but you're also going to find
opposition that straight up appears wicked you'll
see that in family members you'll see that in
friends you'll see that in colleagues you'll
see that in co -workers you'll see that in that
random person online where it's a little bit
more clear and evident that they don't like you
That it's not an opposition of I'm trying to
stop you from a loving space. Opposition can
look like that jealous person. That person who
you don't deserve this. You don't deserve this
good thing. So I'm gonna lie, gossip, slander,
do whatever I need to do to block that thing.
That friend or that family member that's doing
everything they can to prevent you from stepping
into that thing that God hasn't wanted you to
do. That's trying to block. opportunities for
you to move forward to elevate. That sees God
opening a door and tries to slam it shut. Emphasis
on tries. I'm just taking a moment here to identify
to y 'all that opposition can appear in a lot
of different ways. It can look like that loving
person that just cares but coming from that space
of care it's planning doubt and fear. It can
look like that jealous person that doesn't want
to see you win It can look like that person that's
rooted in unforgiveness it can look like that
person that is has such a competitive mindset
That they don't they're okay with seeing other
people do good, but they cannot be doing what
they feel is better than that and I want to be
so clear that it's so important to separate the
person behind the spirit because at the root
of this behind each of these forms of opposition.
The real enemy here is the darkness, is the wickedness,
is Satan. At the root of it, he's trying to prevent
you from stepping into what God has called you
to do. He's trying to prevent you from growing
further in your faith. He's trying to prevent
you from bringing other people closer to Christ.
He's trying to prevent other people from seeing
that Jesus Christ sealed victory over death on
the cross. So yes, I'm addressing the forms opposition
can come in and they come through people often
times, right? Sometimes they come in as thoughts
where you just have those intrusive thoughts
or those random bursts of like These emotions
and anger that you know aren't from the Lord
that you know aren't from God Sometimes off the
spiritual opposite spiritual warfare Comes in
those really bad mental health hits now. I'm
not saying that mental health problems as a whole
Just spiritual warfare. I'm not going to dismiss
it in that way as someone who I grew up with
depression anxiety Like I it was really really
bad in middle school and high school and I was
diagnosed with things outside of school depression
panic disorder PTSD I Am NOT dismissing spirit.
I'm not calling mental health just spiritual
warfare as a whole But when I was delivered from
those things and depression no longer overcame
me, anxiety and panic no longer overcame me.
I'm not saying that I never dealt with sadness
or anxiety or things like that again, but it
was no longer debilitating and it no longer stopped
me like it did in the past because I got my strength
from Christ and he delivered me. I'm not saying
he delivers everybody from it. For some people
that's the thorn in their side that God uses
to keep them coming to him. Everybody's situation
is different, but for me, God delivered me. He
gave me a peace that surpassed all understanding
that allowed me to leave behind smoking and drinking
and things like that But I have seen Spiritual
warfare in my life now manifest as a random day
where things should be going good But all of
a sudden it's like i'm getting hit with every
single depressive thought Doubt and fear and
instead of looking at like yeah, God's about
to move and God's about to do these amazing things
It's lots of it's never gonna get better. It's
never gonna work out. It's never gonna happen.
What about this? What about that? And when I
take these intrusive thoughts captive and make
them obedient to Christ when I start saying I
silence every voice It's not the father not the
son not the Holy Spirit when I start going into
a space of praise and prayer and worshiping God
Even when I don't feel like I have a lot of things
to praise for I still do it That silence is the
enemy right we see that that's one of the things
when we're putting on the armor of God is prayer
and Being rooted in the truth when you combat
the enemy's lies. Sometimes spiritual warfare
looks like those lies that are popping up in
your brain They're saying you're not good enough.
God didn't say that this isn't gonna happen.
This isn't gonna be good Spiritual warfare it
can look like people but it can also look like
those thoughts those intrusive thoughts that's
so important that you step into your authority
in Christ Jesus and silence those and Rebuke
those bind and rebuke those and remind yourself
of what God's Word says So I always say it's
so important to be rooted in God's Word and to
know God's Word It's a lot easier to combat the
lies of the enemy when you're rooted in God's
Word And you know what he says and you know that
his work is true Now let's start let's start
moving Living through this little checklist y
'all. I want to give you a little bit of background
Okay, when I gave my life to Jesus It was a heavy
period of spiritual warfare. You've all got to
keep in mind. I at this point had Been a full
-on new -ager. I had been a tarot card reader
on social media. It was a very clear my stance
and my beliefs I Had fallen out with a lot of
people Had a lot of people who were angry at
me. I had a lot of people who are holding me
in unforgiveness I had a lot of people who were
being used by the enemy That didn't want to see
me put my faith in Jesus that did not want to
see me leave that life behind They wanted to
see me in pain and suffering At this point in
my life. There had been a lot of lies There had
been a lot of gossip a lot of half -truths and
me coming to Jesus Me turning my life around
Through the help of Jesus Christ Me turning from
wickedness and turning to goodness That would
end up exposing a lot of these false narratives
and there were Again at the root of it the enemy
behind but when I check the people's motives
the people who are involved Me doing that things
would have made them look like a liar Me doing
those things would have eventually exposed So
that was a lot of people's personal stake in
it is a lot of people didn't want me to do better
with my life because It would reveal a lot of
things that they had been saying and doing it
would reveal their hearts. It would reveal their
intentions But see the enemy was playing off
of that there's a bigger person behind it There's
a bigger spiritual behind it and that is the
devil and that's why I always say is so important
To like be forgiving To be loving that the devil
will use unforgiveness to operate through you
Unforgiveness is a great foothold for him to
have and you don't want to give that to him There
are a lot of wicked things that people do because
they're in a space of unforgiveness So keep in
mind y 'all I am at a spot in my life where me
turning to Jesus doing good Handling things the
Jesus way patience, love, kindness, forgiveness,
knowing when to hold my tongue, giving it to
God. If I stepped into all these things, it would
have blown the enemy's plan to the floor. So
when I tell you, for like a year, it felt like
just constant warfare of trying to tempt me to
handle things not in a loving way. trying to
get me to step out of character, trying to get
me to act differently, trying to get me to do
all these other things. Like the enemy was actively
bringing up old stressors, trying to get me into
old habits, trying to get me weary and gaslit
to move in all these ways that want me anymore.
And through this, God allowed these things to
happen. God allowed this opposition to happen.
God allowed these triggers to happen To produce
an endurance in me to strengthen my faith Consider
a great joy when you face trials and tribulations
of all kinds, but it's an opportunity to produce
endurance It was an opportunity for me to I had
the decision do I go backwards or do I stay rooted
in Christ? Each time you practice staying rooted
in Christ, it gets a little bit easier I'm not
saying it was always easy to like hold my tongue
or forgive or respond in love But it got easier
the more frequently I had to do it God will allow
opposition testing trials things like that to
literally train you up to strengthen you to prepare
you I'm speaking from experience of all of these
things were allowed to happen and it would have
been really easy for me to be like Why is this
allowed to happen and get angry at God? And rely
on my own understanding and think I gave my life
to you Lord. Why are you still allowing this
and see him as like unjust? Believing the lies
of the enemy Instead I remembered that he has
plans to prosper me not to harm me I Remembered
what he did with Joseph That all of the opposition
all of those things that were allowed to happen
to him one day were used to elevate him They
were used to strengthen him So I'm here today
to tell y 'all I'm speaking to you from a point
of there was a lot of opposition There were a
lot of attacks allowed to happen to me God allowed
these things to happen because he knew that they
would produce something He knew that they would
strengthen Now I want to give y 'all the first
the very first step that the Lord in my private
time with him today Really gave me that I wrote
down is you have to be willing you Where were
we here we are But you have to know that God
isn't surprised and that he planned for this
whatever it is you're dealing with Whatever it
is that's happening. Sorry y 'all. I started
to read off in my back page. It's a double -sided
page if you're with me This is a little bit of
a list The first thing I needed to understand
and comprehend when dealing with this warfare
was that God isn't surprised with what I'm dealing
with. That he already planned for it. So he already
planned that that person was going to not tell
me about that job offer. He already planned that
that person was going to lie about me. He already
planned that that person was going to try to
speak some kind of fear or doubt. He already
planned Now that's not saying that God orchestrated
it, but he is all -knowing and he already planned.
Before I gave my life to Christ and even before
I stepped in a new age, I had this idea in my
head that God was caught off guard or surprised.
Like I can remember a couple times when just
some messy messy thing would happen and when
I would look up and be like, but you didn't expect
that one, huh God? You told me to step into this
and this happened. And that was because, you
know, a part of me didn't understand how God
will use suffering and use these things for a
good. I believe that anytime you're obeying God,
He was just calling you into something beautiful
or something amazing. So whenever something bad
would happen, I would be like, God must not have
foresaw this. He must not plan for this. And
then knowing scripture, I know that's not biblical,
right? But this is what's gonna help you to start
with putting your faith in God is Understanding
that whatever it is you're facing whatever it
is you're dealing with He already knew you were
going to face this and he called you to it. Anyway,
he called you to whatever position you're in
Whatever the environment is whatever the situation
is For example, we walk into a new environment,
we walk into a new space that God has called
us to step into, but we're met with opposition.
And sometimes we want to look up and be like,
God, are you surprised by this? Like, why would
you leave me here knowing this is going to happen?
So it's so important for you to understand that
God has already planned around this. God already
knew. He's not taken by surprise. And I want
to give you a little bit of scripture with that.
1 John chapter 3 verse 20. God is greater. God
is greater than our heart. He knows everything
I want to take y 'all With me to Psalms We're
gonna go to Psalm 139 bear with me as I'm flipping
in my Bible We are going to go to Psalm 139 and
we are going to start in verse 1 it says here
Lord you have searched me and known me you know
when I sit down and when I stand up you understand
my thoughts from far away you observe my travels
and my rest you are aware of all my ways before
a word is on my tongue you know all about it
Lord and there's another piece of scripture that
my mind gets pulled to constantly and that is
Jeremiah 1 5 Where God says before I formed you
in the womb I knew you and he speaks this to
Jeremiah when he's calling Jeremiah to go prophesy
And be a mouthpiece to a group of people that
don't want to hear what Jeremiah has to say and
God is like building some confidence Because
Jeremiah is like I'm too young. I'm too under
qualified. I'm not right for this position basically
and God is like no I already created you like
when you were Being created, I already had this
intention for your life. I already wanted to
use you in a big way. I already planned for you
to be a mouthpiece. Don't say, don't act like
this is some new thing. I have had this plan
for you long before you were conscious. So it's
so important for us to understand that God is
all -knowing. He is all -seeing. He knows. The
opposition you're facing before you take it to
him in prayer Which also means and I don't know
who needs to hear this today. God knows when
you're trying to lie to him God knows when you
when you go into prayer and you're trying to
twist what happened If you try to say someone
said something that they didn't say Someone did
something that they didn't when you try to claim
that they have this intention in their heart,
but they don't God knows your heart. He knows
your mind. He knows what you're thinking about
doing what you're considering doing He knows
all these things and he knows them with everybody
else So understand that God knows every part
of the situation that you don't even know that
you don't even see The next step I have here
is understand that God already has a plan and
that he uses things for our good Pulling again
from Jeremiah 29 11 where God says Or I know
the plans I have for you says the Lord plans
to prosper you not to harm you Plans to give
you hope and a future and we can look at the
story of Joseph to Joseph who when he was young
he was all right He was favored by his father
on earth and his brothers were already jealous
He already had ops because it was clear the favor
over his life That's something someone needs
to hear today when God's favor over your life
is clear like things just always working out
for you or God blesses you or it's just clear
that God's hand is over your life. There's gonna
be jealousy just from that. I've experienced
this in my life. I've heard lots of people say
that there are people who because they suffered
they feel like everyone else needs to suffer
in that way. Because they experienced a pain
or hardship they feel like everyone else needs
to experience that and when they don't see people
experience that there's an envy and a jealousy.
And again that's why God calls us not to be envious
or jealous because When you're rooted in envy
and jealousy, that's a great way for the devil
to come in and start getting you to act in ways
that you're not supposed to be acting. I think
we can definitely pull this back to previous
episodes where I say that these things are open
doors for the devil. So when I tell you all to
be forgiving, when I tell you all to let go of
envy and jealousy and all these things, I'm telling
you because like we see in the scripture just
how much the devil will use it. Like it is literally
a danger. Said in the last episode God doesn't
call us not to do these things or to flee the
sin because he doesn't want to have fun Or he
wants to be superior Like he just wants to see
us submit just for the heck of it He does it
because he knows just how much leeway it actually
gives the devil But we see that when Joseph receives
Like when he receives a dream and God is showing
him like his brother is bowing down before him
overall God shows Joseph like I have a big plan
for your life. You're gonna do some amazing things
You're gonna be used in an amazing way by me
Joseph gets excited and he wants he goes and
tells his brothers. He thinks these people are
gonna be supportive for him supportive of him
How many times do we? go and tell our friends
and our family something that we're planning
for something that we believe God is going to
do in our in our lives because we're so excited
and we assume well since they're our friends
or since they're our family they'll be supportive
and instead you're met with envy jealousy doubtful
words Joseph Joseph was met with more than that
he goes and tells his brothers and his brothers
in such envy and jealousy and hardened hearts
at first plot to kill him Like at first that's
what they're gonna do they're gonna just kill
him like have him mauled like just kill him and
Then they eventually settle on instead selling
him into slavery And we can see that that is
in their jealousy In their unforgiveness that
they feel like their dad favored their earthly
father favored him and already have jealousy
towards him Let alone feeling now like God is
also favoring him, too Instead of being used
by God to, you know, help encourage him and help
strengthen him, they're used by the enemy to
try to delay and block him. At first that looks
like just trying to end his life period. And
then it moves on to slavery. Well, he can't be
elevated or anything like that if he's in a pit,
if he's a slave. He can't receive good care from
the father or anything like that if he's not
around the father. And they're envious in their
jealousy. They were used by the enemy to try
to stop God's will, to try to stop someone from
stepping into their calling. But we see that
God used that. That's where we're getting back
to is God uses all things for your good. The
enemy can do all of these things that looks like
there's no way God can use it and God will still
use it. This is what happens. Joseph is in slavery.
He's in Potiphar's house and Potiphar is blessed
because he's there. So God is still even though
he is going through this suffering as a slave
which looks like an injustice and God is still
blessing him it's still clear that God is with
him and loves him and Then we see another form
of opposition When you try to do things God's
way when you when you reject the ways of the
world when you refuse to conform Warfare is gonna
hit in that way, too. It doesn't get easier when
you turn from evil and do good, oftentimes the
spiritual warfare cranks up and we see that with
Potiphar's wife, right? Potiphar's wife tries
to seduce Joseph, tries to get him to fall into
fornication, adultery, sins. And when Joseph
is like, no, I'm good, I'm good. What does Potiphar's
wife do? She falsely accuses him and says, well,
he did it anyway, but he tried to do it. And
he goes to jail and he's in jail for a minute,
like years. And he's still in there doing God's
work. He's still in there interpreting dreams.
He's even being blessed while he's in the jail.
You see how the devil will, the opposition will
put you in these places of suffering and God's
hand will still shine through. Even when Joseph
was in jail, it was still clear that God favored
him. He was still getting blessed in that situation.
And one day, in God's timing, Someone remembered
Joseph who can interpret dreams told Pharaoh
Told the leader And when when Joseph went before
him and interpreted that dream it was clear that
God was with him and He received that position
where his brothers were then bowing down to him
and everything like that and we see that Joseph
in that high position had the opportunity to
act the same way his brothers did but he did
not he chose love and forgiveness and even later
on we see that the brothers refused to believe
that he could be forgiving they were like nah
nah he has some hidden animosity we see that
god will use the opposition and the warfare and
the attempts for the enemy to block you for your
good and he'll actually be the stepping stone
think of psalm 90 think of psalm 23 someone needs
to hear that today because that really got me
through you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows
indeed goodness and mercy will pursue me all
the days of my life i'll dwell in the house of
the lord for endless days amen right but before
that it says you prepare a table before me in
front of my enemies someone needs to hear this
today that god will literally use the work of
the enemy as your footstool to elevate you when
you trust in his will over yours So these two
first steps are really important because these
first two steps are going to lead to you surrendering
and submitting to God, right? Because in order
to submit your will to God and trust in His ways,
you have to trust in His ability first, right?
You have to trust in His ability to plan for
everything. You have to trust in His ability
to use everything for your good. And that's what
I'm giving you right now. The scriptures I'm
giving you right now the evidence I'm giving
you right now is that God already knows everything
that could happen everything that's being thought
out God already knows what you're gonna do what
they're gonna do. God has planned for all of
it God knows what's gonna happen 15 years from
now And God is also able to use anything warfare
anything opposition for your good God is able
to flip it like that And knowing these things
changes the way that you perceive your situation
You're able to start operating out of a space
of victory, right? You're able to start seeing
that I'm on the winning team When I'm submitted
to Jesus and I have my faith in Jesus because
Jesus Christ secured victory when he went to
the cross, right? So now you're able to step
a bit more into the authority And that goes on
to our third point that I have written down is
surrender your understanding and your desires
to God Submitting to his plan and his methods
because y 'all when you're faced with all this
opposition There's usually a lot of things you
want to do at verse aren't Christ like usually
you want to pop off You want to yell you want
to scream you want to fight you want to defend
yourself You want to make this person look bad
You want to expose this you want to go out of
your way and do this and solve this and you want
to lean on your own understanding But when you
trust in God and his ability It's a bit easier
to start trusting on what he's calling you to
do, right? And I want to quote to you This is
one of my favorite Bible verses ever which is
Proverbs 3 verses 5 to 6 Trust in the Lord with
all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
and all your ways acknowledge him and he will
make straight your paths So we know that we are
supposed to put all of our faith in the Lord
Put all of our trust in him You know when you
when you are in this situation that's the moment
to not trust yourself and your thoughts and your
feelings and your emotions but to instead trust
in God and what he says and we're told that when
you do that when you put your trust in him and
you do not lean on your own understanding you
don't lean on your own thoughts you don't lean
on your own methods and You acknowledge him in
all your ways Meaning like you're the things
that you're doing the steps that you're taking
you're trying to do things that glorify him That
elevate him not elevate you that elevate him
We can see that through loving one another showing
people the love of Jesus in circumstances where
it makes no sense That's something that glorifies
you. That's the thing that glorifies God You
know, we're supposed to do these good works and
hopes that People will see it and be able to
see God in it Right, you do these works so that
others may see and glorify your father who is
in heaven But the good things that you're doing
that the loving ways that you're responding all
these things aren't meant to make you look like
the good guy Or you look like the good person
that's meant to show Jesus Because the thing
that is different between you and these other
people is you know the love of Jesus It's not
supposed to glorify you or elevate you. It's
supposed to glorify God So in all your ways acknowledge
him Meaning acknowledge his word acknowledge
what he says to do in all your ways try to live
submitted to him And he will make straight your
paths I Mean this opposition that you're facing
will be cleared out in a way The this current
thing that you're facing where it's like I have
no idea how I'm gonna navigate this I have no
idea how I'm gonna get out of this I have no
idea how I'm gonna move through this when you
in all your ways acknowledge him and lean not
on your own understanding, he is going to be
able to straighten out that path. He is going
to be able to show you the way. He is going to
be able to clear out the chaos. So surrender
your own understanding, your own methods to God.
In the past, maybe you thought crashing out and
popping off was the best way, but you know that
that's not what God's Word says to do. It's not.
You know that gossiping back and lying back and
slandering back and trying to secure revenge
Isn't what you're supposed to do because the
vengeance is the Lord's We're supposed to forgive
or go those people to God and trust in his divine
justice You know when you read the Bible what
God's Word says to do and It's submitting to
that over what you your flesh desires to do Okay,
that is the next step because I know for me when
It was really hard when I had all these lies
and all this gossip and all this slander and
all I wanted to do was like get on social media
and be like Hey, this is actually what happened.
Hey, this is actually the truth. Hey, this is
actually why I'm moving this way This is actually
what's going on I Cannot tell y 'all how many
times God told me to wait on him that he would
expose the truth that the way that I live My
life would speak for itself that I don't have
to do these things to trust in Him. And although
that went against what my flesh wanted to do,
I trusted in God's Word. I saw how many times
He had done that. I knew He was more than able,
and I had to trust that He was going to be willing
to do that for me too. Now we're moving on to
the next step here, which is take things to God
in prayer. Ask Him what to do. Give the situation
to Him. And that is led into with relying not
on our own understanding, right? When we are
faced with a situation, big or small, we are
supposed to go to God and ask him, what do we
do here? What do I do here? That traces back
to leaning not on our own understanding. When
we're faced with a situation, it's really easy
for us to say, okay, this is how I want to handle
it. And this is why think is going on. This is
why think is the best method. But what we're
supposed to do is actually take it to God in
prayer and say God this is the situation And
we're not explaining the situation him because
he doesn't know he already knows But he wants
us to take it to him anyway, right? So we're
going him and saying God this is what I'm facing
This is what I'm feeling and like this is what
I want to do This is my plan But what we're supposed
to do next is ask God is this your will? Is this
your plan? I know what I want, but what do you
want? What are you telling me to do? What are
you guiding me to do? And now it is so important
to understand that God will not contradict His
own word. And we've talked earlier about silencing
the voices that are not the Father, not the Son,
not the Holy Spirit. The devil masquerades as
an angel of light. And he will at times try to
tell you to do things and give you advice that
sounds good to the ears But that's why it's so
important that you know scripture You know the
Word of God because you're able to hold up what
the devil is whispering to you and say that goes
against God's Word That goes against God's character.
We see that that's what happened with Jesus when
he was in the wilderness, right? When he was
fasting and the enemy the devil came to him trying
to tempt him And the devil was quoting scripture,
but taking it out of context and twisting it
Trying to get Jesus to be like, okay. Yeah, that's
a biblical but because Jesus not only knew the
Word of God But had a relationship that's why
I said in the last episode you cannot follow
Jesus if you don't have a relationship with him
It's one thing to know the Word of God It's another
to experience God to experience Jesus and have
a relationship with him But because Jesus knew
the Father because Jesus was led by the Spirit
because He knew God's Word those those go hand
-in -hand that he knew scripture he was able
very quickly to rebuke Satan and say You know
thou shall not put the Lord your God to the test
Thou shall not like worship anyone other than
the Father like he was able to very quickly be
like nah I see right through this Someone needs
to hear today that prayer isn't just asking God
for things. It's also sitting and listening prayer
We a lot of us look at prayer as like asking
God for things and that's just like our request
and we move on with our day Prayer is actually
a communication. That's like your phone call
And sometimes you don't always hear back like
within 30 seconds Sometimes you eat it's sitting
there for 10 minutes for 20 minutes just in God's
presence Just being open to hearing what he has
to say God speaks to us in a lot of different
ways for me. He often speaks to me through my
scripture time through Bible reading Intentional
alone time with God building your relationship
with him It's so important the big and small
things even when you feel like you know what
to do Take it to him in prayer. Anyway, because
sometimes his answer is a lot different than
what you're expecting Remember he uses our situations
and opposition in ways that we could never imagine
He could use it to glorify him and to further
his kingdom We think very close -minded compared
to God the most creative person in the world
Doesn't even come near God's creativity Now I
want to read a little bit of Matthew to you and
it's Matthew chapter 7 starting in verse 7 ask
and it will be given to you seek and you will
find knock and the door will be open to you for
everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks
finds to the one who knocks the door will be
opened who among you if his son asks him for
bread would give him a stone or if he asks for
a fish will give him a snake if you then who
are evil know how to give good gifts to your
children how much more will your father in heaven
give good things to those who ask him Here's
the next thing you need to trust that when you
go to God in prayer and ask him like When you
when you are truly opening your heart and saying
God I want to know your will What do you want
me to do? Even if it is different from what I
want to do show me the way show me the truth
You have to trust that he's gonna answer that
prayer Ask and you will receive seek and you
will find He wants us, God wants us to come to
Him for guidance and direction. He wants us to
submit our ways to Him and to obey Him. You have
to trust that when you come to Him, He's actually
going to show you. He's actually going to reveal
things to you. He's actually going to speak to
you. But if you need to know, He's going to make
sure you know. You know, you can't go into the
prayer with him with like a closed off heart
or saying well I'll go and ask God but I already
know what I want to do and what I'm gonna do
and the only way I'll change my mind is if he
does ABCDEFG. That's not you submitted or surrendered.
It's not. Going to God in prayer is literally
forego - you're giving up your will in the sense
of saying I know what I want to do and I know
what my mind says. But that might not be the
way. So God, I'm asking you to show me the way.
I remember there was a time when I was leaving
New Age and I was going through a weird transition
where I was still a tarot card reader for money,
but I had started reading scripture and I'd started
feeling convicted. And it was right coming up
on the end when I stopped doing it completely.
And I went through a time where it was like every
time I got online, I did a live stream every
day and there were people on there that I could
tell were making fun of me. that like they would
be nice surface level but they were saying like
a lot of gaslighting things to me and they were
saying a lot of provoking things to me and they're
asking me questions to purposely provoke me and
to like entrap me like it was a weird dynamic
and it was a weird situation and I remember when
I was first submitting to God of like how do
I handle these people because I know what they're
doing and I don't think they realized I know
and there was a real thing for me for a long
time y 'all where I did not like people thinking
I was stupid Wanted people to know I knew what
was up. I wanted people to know I knew what was
going on I wanted people know they weren't pulling
a fast one on me And I wanted to like myself
twist things on them. I didn't want to wait on
God to use it for my good I wanted to just be
able to twist it and I at first before I gave
my life to Jesus that was how I Would handle
things then when I started submitting my will
to God. I was like God. How do you want? Like
I know what I want to do and what I want to do
is pretty quick and direct into the point But
I felt God tell me that's not what I want you
to do Actually, what I want you to do is I want
you to treat them with love and I want you to
warn them I Want you to warn them of what they're
doing. I want you to warn them that what they're
doing is wicked I want you to warn them that
they are listening to deception Want you to warn
them that they are going down a path that they
are not supposed to be going down and for a little
while that was what I was doing consistently
in a loving space and In the way that I felt
God was leading me to I was warning them of like
you're listening to lies if you're listening
to deceit But I there was a preaching of repentance
that God was calling me to have but you can still
turn it around You can still choose not to believe
in this you can still choose not to put your
faith in this you today Can humble yourself?
Like you today can pray that God gives you humility
you today can separate from that group Just because
you've gone down this path for so long doesn't
mean you need to continue to go down this path
God called me to Speak about wickedness but also
encourage repentance and Went through a period
like that and I wasn't seeing any shifts and
I wasn't seeing any changes you know if anything
it looked like it was actually elevating i was
getting made fun of more um i've talked about
before suffering on the behalf of price i was
actually getting made fun of more like ha ha
she's telling us to like rip and she's telling
that and actually in ways it was being twisted
and i was like god now i'm being mocked even
more now i look even weaker now i look even like
now the lies are spreading like god like I don't
see how this is going to be used for my good.
I feel like I'm just suffering more. And then
there was one day where I had a breakdown. I
was like, God, I can't continue to do this. Like,
you keep telling me to do this, but they're not
repenting. Like, their hearts are hardened. It's
continuing. And I felt like I was casting my
pearls before a swine. And, you know, he showed
me that you warn a divisive person once, twice,
three times, and then like, you got to go your
separate way. And I felt the Lord call me to
remove those people like block them like and
um when i did i actually received y 'all like
a lot of private messages that were like very
gaslighting where it was like i don't know what
i did wrong like why would you blah like trying
to you know it was like kind of like a final
attempt when i look back at it to get me to explain
myself And another opportunity to twist my words.
And I wanted to respond so badly. And I remember
praying to God where I'm like, wouldn't the loving
thing to do be to respond? Wouldn't the loving
thing to do to be like, explain myself again?
And the Lord revealed to me, you have warned
so many times. You have explained so many times.
And I'm giving you a warning right now that like,
if you entertain these conversations, it's going
to be twisted. and He would be disobeying me
by responding. And it went against every inch
of my flesh and I just had to ignore those messages
and let them sit and be used however they were
going to be used and trust in God's timing. He
would move in that situation and He has. He has.
But sometimes God is going to call you Like a
lot of things he's gonna call you to do and the
ways he's gonna call you to respond are way above
your pay grade of like Understanding because
I could not understand why God was having me
worn why God was having me encourage repentance
Why God wasn't letting me just block and move
on with my life I had to like for a period minister
to those people and then it was like a flip where
he was like, it's clear They're not repenting
and it's clear that the hearts are hardened and
it's time for you Your mental health is like
taking a big hit at this point and you're also
my child and I also love you Tune this out. We're
not dealing with this anymore. And then it was
like almost immediately after I I fully gave
my life to Jesus gave up new age and gave up
tarot card reading as a whole God moved in that
situation, but I had to trust his ways were above
my ways I had to trust and the things that he
was warning of me about that I could not yet
see and that's a little bit further down on our
list, but actually feel like that is what I'm
being guided to talk about next and We see this
actually and I believe it's the book of Matthew
and the first couple chapters chapter 2 where
Jesus is being born and You have to walk by faith
and not by sight and the thing about taking things
to God in prayer is You also have to be willing
to take his word as truth and submit to what
he says even if it doesn't look like your surroundings
And we see that with when Jesus was born, right?
We see that with the wise men. And the wise men
are going to pay homage to Jesus, to glorify
him. And we see the king, that's a wolf in sheep's
clothing. He's smiling and he's acting like he
has good intent, but he doesn't have good intent.
And what I've actually learned is if you historically
look at him, he doesn't have a history of being
a good dude. From my understanding, the king...
in the situation he actually had a history of
like attacking people and offing people like
if you look at his track record he doesn't come
from a loving or empathetic space he has a history
of executing his will like me over other people
like if you look at his life history it's pretty
clear that he's not like submitted to God or
handling things in a loving or empathetic way
like there is an alternate agenda and a lot of
the things he does he has a pattern of that But
he still tries to present himself as a good intent
in telling these wise men like hey when you find
The child come let me know where he's at giving
me this information So that way I too can go
and worship him. He's like when y 'all figure
it out I want you to come and report back That
was him like kind of been listening you hear
people say like monitoring flying monkeys You
know that that was the king trying to create
some flying monkeys that that was him trying
to Get these guys to go out and do the dirty
work to collect the information to do all that
and come report it back to him and we know it
wasn't With the intent of actually going and
worshipping Jesus and like helping him and doing
all these things It was actually to harm him
But he knew that if he was very clear with that
intent the wise men probably weren't gonna come
back and report back So he just said yeah, I
want this information to do good And this ladies
and gentlemen Is why discernment is so important
is why taking things to god is so important is
why trusting There's a reason why In the bible
we're told you shall know them by their fruit.
A good tree cannot produce bad fruit and a bad
tree cannot produce good fruit People can repent
and give their lives to christ and turn turn
their lives around I did I did look at saul in
the bible who became paul That is possible. But
you shall know them by their fruit, okay? And
people who know me long enough now, they know
me by my fruit. They can see God moving in my
life. They can see the Holy Spirit working through
me. But people, if they would have known me three,
four, five years ago, they would have also known
me by my fruit, which was the opposite. The things
I was producing, the lack of patience, the lack
of love, the unforgiveness, those things, it
was very clear that I wasn't being led by Jesus.
It was very clear that I was being led by the
flesh. So you would have known me by my fruit
at that time too. And you would have been able
to see, yeah, she doesn't know Jesus like that.
She's not submitted to the word of God. She's
lukewarm. You shall know them by their fruit.
and see when these wise men went off they received
a word God spoke to them and warned them and
said do not return angel warned them do not return
to the king do not tell him jack squat about
Jesus don't do it now they didn't have all of
these receipts all these information it wasn't
like they overheard all these conversations between
the king and that they had all these things exposed.
They had to trust in what God was saying. And
again, like I said from reading history, there
are probably some rumors about the king at that
time of him not being a good dude, of him, you
know, taking a lot of wicked actions. So it may
not have been very far -fetched, okay, for the
wise men to see, okay, yeah, maybe this guy's
being a bit deceptive. But it's crazy how many
people you should know them by the fruit that
they're deceptive There's a there's a negative
intent here that people totally disregard that
and just say no I'm sure I'm just gonna take
them out as a word this time But these these
wise men Walked by faith not by sight they trusted
in God's order to not report back. Knowing that
the king has armies, the king could have sought
them out and like, off them. I'm sure they probably
had some kind of theories too of like, we're
about to disobey the king, we're about to go
against what he told us to do. And that was also
them having to trust in God will protect them
in obeying whatever that protection looks like.
And then we see right after that, God do the
same thing with Joseph. We see God do that same
thing with Joseph Where in the he has a dream
and he is told y 'all gotta leave You need to
take the child and you need to go like God is
telling him like y 'all gotta leave the country
and you can Can you imagine just for a moment
how stressful that might be? Mary and Joseph
haven't had this child But they're just trying
to stability and raise and they're told Hey,
I know you haven't planned to move like I know
this isn't like your game plan I know you might
not feel like you have all the resources or all
this but there's danger coming The king is about
to like start killing infants So you need to
move and trust that I'll provide Like Joseph
believing in that dream was a real walk by faith
not by sight because he listened to what God
said he listened to the warning Although looking
around the King hadn't drafted up a law yet.
He wasn't killing infants yet. None of that was
going on He trusted when God said but it will
happen So you need to move now and because he
listened to God he was moved to a safe space
Jesus was moved to a safe space taking things
to God in prayer and listening and heeding his
warnings will allow you to move away from the
Lord there are times like God is speaking to
you if you obey him he's going to put you up
on a like on a high a safe space so that way
when the storms come in when the war is going
on you are out of that and I can't tell you all
how many times that the Lord revealed to me that
my refusal to reply back to somebody like my
refusal in those situations to like entertain
to go back and forth was actually God moving
me in a safe space because later on when things
went down I didn't have a dog in the fight in
all honesty like there wasn't Daniel said this
there wasn't Daniel did that there was these
people were doing these things and I minded my
own business I cannot tell y 'all how many times
that obeying God and at first looked like me
doing nothing turned into like Me being the one
person that refused to participate and like really
Prevented me from having to deal with a lot of
mess So that's our next step y 'all is taking
it to God but trusting and what he reveals to
you walking by faith not by sight and Being willing
this is the next step being willing to rest while
God works if that is what he commanded Cannot
tell y 'all how many times the opposition pressure
was being put on me and i was like god how do
i handle this like god like what do you want
me to do and he was literally telling me i want
you to rest and trust that i'm working this out
there's not a move you need to make right now
what you need to do is rest and i want to be
so clear that resting in christ isn't that thing
of like okay now you're sleeping all day and
just doing whatever makes your heart happy and
like binge watching all these shows what resting
looked like was no longer fixating on that problem
no longer putting my hands in and trying to work
it around trying to redirect it trying to make
things happen but instead releasing it giving
it to God and Delighting in the Lord and for
me that looked like scripture reading I worked
on reading my Bible Bible studies Reflecting,
you know looking at areas in my life that needed
worked on that looked like serving Like how can
I volunteer? That looked like listening to worship
music resting is giving that situation to God
and there's a story I want to share with y 'all
I want to highlight and it's in 1st Samuel it's
the opening of 1st Samuel and it's Hannah and
Panina and this is one of my favorite stories
in the Bible one of my absolute favorite stories
because we see Hannah who is not able to have
children God has prevented her from conceiving
That's how it's described in that Bible story
of God intentionally has not let her yet have
a child. And her husband has a second wife named
Penina that has had kids. And Penina is not nice
about it. Penina actually gloats about it. Goes
out of her way to make Hannah feel like crap
about herself. Penina is like described as like
an enemy to her. She taunts her. Ha ha I have
kids you don't ha ha I can have kids you can't
ha ha look at how I win and you can't Penina
constantly trying to get Hannah to compare herself
and feel less than That is Hannah's life She
lives in that situation her day -to -day life
is people Making fun of her and her shortcomings
And saying I have this and you don't I'm blessed
you aren't And she dealt with that for years.
Years. It wasn't just like a day. It wasn't just
a week. It wasn't just a month. For years, that
was her life. And it shows in reading that story
that she was growing more and more weary. And
her husband wasn't exactly the best comfort.
He would say some silly stuff like, am I not
better than all these sons? Like, aren't I good
enough for you? He wasn't exactly the most sensitive
or the most comforting. And we see that one day
like Hannah just it's overwhelming for her And
she runs into the temple and she starts just
laying it all out before God with a lot of emotions
There is sadness. There's weariness, but there's
also resentment Frustration and she's pouring
out to God and saying like like I And she starts
saying them like if you give me a son I will
give him back to you. Like she hits a point where
she's like, I don't even want it for me anymore.
I want it just to glorify you. If you give me
a son, I will give him back to you. She makes,
she makes an agreement of he will not cut his
hair. A covenant, like saying like he will be
dedicated to you in this way. And she is laying
it out so fervently. This is a problem that she
has been facing day after day, year after year.
And she's saying, I cannot fix this. cannot do
this like I cannot handle this on my own and
I'm giving it to you because I don't know what
to do I don't have any other answer I'm giving
it to you you are the answer I know that you
are capable of intervening and fixing this and
I need you to do it and if you do it like I will
give it back to you I will use it to glorify
you it's not gonna be for me and she meant that
she wasn't just saying it she meant that Because
God knows our hearts. He knows when you're saying
I'll do this and I'll do this and that's not
where your heart is at He knows when you're being
deceptive. He knows That's also why oftentimes
before God blesses you with something he'll put
you through the crushing He'll allow you to go
through suffering and trials and things that
produce the fruit that's necessary to be a good
steward over that thing Or he blesses you with
that big financial blessing. He'll make sure
you're in a giving space where you're gonna use
it to glorify God He'll make sure you know, you're
not you're not about to get greedy and gluttonous
and fall off the path God would much rather have
you submitted and surrendered to him than you
having all the comforts and comfortability in
the world Because he loves you that much But
she Hannah lays it out before the board and there's
a priest in the temple Eli who's like Look He
thinks she's drunk and he's like Basically saying
girl like how long are you gonna be drunk? Quit
drinking. Why are you in here drunk? And she
looked at him and she's like, I'm not drunk.
I'm just praying so fevrenly I'm just so emotional
at this time. She's like, I am pouring out my
heart to the Lord And you know, he says in response
to her. He's like, well, may the Lord may the
Lord grant your request and when Hannah leaves
Keep in mind, when she leaves the temple, she
hasn't miraculously conceived. She's not pregnant.
Panina didn't die. It's not like her enemy was
removed from the situation or taken out. Nothing
physically had yet changed. The only thing that
changed was she gave it over to God. And when
she left, her mood was different. There was a
peace she had. She ended her fasting too. She
ate And like her facial expression had softened
and she went home to her husband Went on with
her life You know have an intimate time with
him and in God's timing God remembered her and
she conceived So when she took it to God in prayer
Although she hadn't already started seeing him
working immediately. Although she hadn't already
seen all this Factual in her face evidence that
God was doing this thing. She just trusted that
his will was going to be done, and that was what
was best for her. She trusted that her request
was going to be granted of having a kid. And
I want to be very clear with sometimes the things
that we're praying to God for. So feverently,
he knows that that thing would actually break
us. He knows that he has something better in
store. So some things, yes, in that feverent
way, like praying for a child, praying for a
healing or something like that, and God hears.
There are other times that there's something
bigger that he's doing with it. So our prayer
is still being answered But it might not be in
the way that we expect it and I want to be so
clear with that, too Okay, but sometimes God's
answered prayer isn't that specific thing we're
asking for but it's better in his timing But
that that's the story that always hit so hard
for me All Hannah did was give it to God and
she had a peace with knowing that he was working
and his ways were above her ways And she was
able to go back to her life and see blessing
in God's timing As another walking by faith not
by sight she walked away with peace not because
everything looked different But because she trusted
in God's timing it would be different There were
lots of promises when I was going through this
opposition all that God was making me of like
one day This isn't gonna be a thing Like what
you're dealing with right now. You're not gonna
be with forever truth will be revealed things
will come to light in God's timing and I trusted
in that word Over what I saw and felt and that
was what allowed me to continue to move by faith
And that's our next step here is be rooted in
faith and trust in God's Word over what your
environment looks like 2nd Corinthians verses
chapter 5 verse 7 walk by faith not by sight
And I want to give y 'all one more example of
someone who is moving by faith I'm gonna give
you two examples of people who are trusting in
God's Word and moving by faith over what they
see look at Noah with the ark it had He Noah
had to trust God when God said there's a flood
coming and you got to build like a really big
boat you got to build an ark and I will save
you like all these other people are gonna perish,
but you will be saved and You got to save all
these animals Can you imagine at that time how
many people were probably who were calling Noah
like stupid and making fun of him? Can you imagine
how stupid he may have felt at times? How much
doubt was probably being spoken at him? How much
did God really say that? Did you really hear
from God? Ha ha ha. The enemy is laughing. The
enemy is usually trying to embarrass you and
laugh at you and rejoice over you until God does
his thing and then everyone's silent. Then the
enemy's silent. How many times are they saying,
ha ha, that's not gonna happen. God isn't gonna
move in your life. Doubt, fear, doubt. This is
A, B, C, D, E, F, G. And everyone has a lot to
say until God comes through and then everyone's
quiet. And I imagine that with Noah. At the time
there was, where's that flood gonna come from?
Oh, it's gonna rain, okay. Noah trusted anyway,
built that ark and what happened? The rains came,
the flood came. Everybody and their mama was
gone. Except for Noah. and the select people
that God let him bring. Look at Moses, okay?
Moses, there's a lot Moses went through. And
he didn't feel capable of being used by God.
And it took honestly a lot of, he was pushing
back with God of like, I can't speak, I can't
do all these things. God still used him despite
his lack of faith. But we see that when Moses
finally stepped into what God was calling him
to do, it wasn't like everything happened overnight.
How many times did Pharaoh harden his heart and
reject Moses when Moses was saying, let my people
go? And how many times he had the opportunity
to see God's hand in God move and eventually
God was hardening Pharaoh's heart? Opposition
doesn't mean that it's not God ordained or that
God hasn't called you to do it. I know someone
needs to hear that clearly today. When you're
doing what God has called you to do, there's
going to be opposition. It's not always an easy
cakewalk. But when you're relying on God and
trusting in him, trust that he will straighten
out your path, that the weapons will fall to
the floor. Look at how many times the weapons
were forming against Moses with Pharaoh refusing
to let the people go. Every time God said, now
do this, Moses would do it. And then it would
look like nothing happened. Moses was obeying.
and Pharaoh was still hardening his heart. Pharaoh
was still saying no. Miracle, like the legit
moves of God were happening that were being rejected.
And however many times this kept happening, Moses
still didn't doubt what God was telling him to
do and continued to press forward in spite of
the opposition. And we see that eventually, Pharaoh
let the people go. And then what happens later
on, Pharaoh starts chasing Moses down with his
army and everything. And God allows that to happen.
God allows the enemy to pursue Moses because
God had a plan. And in his timing, the waters
that were once separated closed up and totaled
Pharaoh and his army. God allowed Pharaoh and
his army out of their hardened heart, being used
by the enemy, to put themselves in that position.
They put themselves in the ocean. God didn't
put them in there. They, in their hardened hearts,
in their pride, in their ego, chose to pursue
the Israelites and Moses. And in doing that,
God planned accordingly. swallow them up we see
Moses moving by faith and trusting in God's Word
over what he sees even if he's getting hit with
opposition after opposition he's still moving
forward anyway and he sees the breakthrough and
Moses then also sees the weapons forming not
prospering he sees firsthand the Israelites see
firsthand how God is willing to protect his own
against the hardened hearts and the works of
the enemy. Let this again be another testimony
that God will use things for your good. I'm sure
they were scared, freaked out Israelites when
they saw Pharaoh and the army chasing after them.
But God used that for the good of it became a
testimony of just how hard God will go for his
people. Also a testimony of what hardness of
heart will cause you to put yourself into There
are a lot of people and I'm saying this from
a place of love who are in spaces of suffering
and hardship not because They're a victim but
because they've been following their heart They've
been following the flesh They've hardened their
heart to God's Word because they put faith in
themselves and their works over God They have
put themselves in positions to be made examples
out of by God Chasing down and pursuing God's
people and trying to harm God's people Here's
another one that I have written down knowing
God's word Believing it as truth to do it the
biblical way It says in John 14 12 the one who
believes in me will do the works that I do And
I've shared we're gonna read from Isaiah in just
a minute, but as I'm finding the page Have shared
with y 'all in previous podcast episodes that
one of my biggest Hmm one of the biggest ways
I fell short and Prevented me from putting all
my faith in God was it was really hard for me
to take God's Word as absolute truth I wanted
to rely on my own feelings my own understanding
and I was constantly trying to poke holes and
I let my heart My thoughts and my emotion my
understanding be my moral compass instead of
God's Word and when you start looking at God's
Word as absolute truth And you close out all
the doubt and all the fears and all that I was
one of those people that was like well What if
someone edited something from the Bible? What
if something did this? What if someone did that?
I'm trusting in God's ability to reveal that
to expose that I'm taking God's Word as truth.
It was a gamble for me to put my faith and God's
Word, in all honesty, y 'all, I had hit a point
in my life where I had no other choice, where
it was clear that my works, I had been turned
over for the destruction of my flesh, and I was
at a point where I just understood that my ways
and my understanding were not enough, and that
if I continued down that path, things were just
going to progress and get worse. And it was because
I had no other option. I was like, you know what,
why don't I, for the first time in my life, stop
questioning the Bible? stop questioning God and
just read this book as if everything in it is
true and Anything that contradicts my understanding
my understanding is wrong. It's not the Bible
is wrong. It's not my understanding is wrong
It's not my methods are wrong. When I started
reading it that way God moved mountains And I
want to read the scripture to y 'all Isaiah 55
verses 8 and 9 for my thoughts are not your thoughts
and my ways are not your way and your ways are
not my ways This is the Lord's declaration for
as heaven is higher than earth So my ways are
higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts Knowing God's word and believing it
as true and starting to accept that if something
you're reading Contradicts the way that you have
been living your life. It's not the Bible. That's
wrong. It's you And there's gonna be some people
who are like that's so ignorant that's so offensive
that's so whatever it's true God's word is truth
and There are so many people so many who call
themselves people who call themselves Christians
that are trying to twist the Bible to match their
lifestyle and Just ignore and leave out parts
that don't match their life that don't match
their beliefs They're trying to twist the Bible
to fit their lives instead of changing their
lives to fit the Bible And you don't have to
believe me. You don't have to believe me. Believe
God. And I have evidence to speak for it that
no one is going to be able, I don't care what
you say, that people can't tell me that I didn't
see changes in my life when I started submitting
the God's Word as truth. Started seeing fruits.
I've never seen before I started God using things
for my good. I've never seen it happen like that
before When I stopped relying on my own ways
my own thoughts my own feelings my own emotions
to gauge My reactions and my morals and just
submitted to what God says to do the fruit I
saw was incomprehensible The ways that he was
able to twist things and use them for my good
the ways I saw the weapons falling to the floor
the ways truth started coming out the ways things
started being revealed, I could never do that
for myself. I could never comprehend things that
money can't buy, things that PIs couldn't expose,
like being so for real right now. Knowing that
God's ways are higher and his understanding is
higher and just trusting, like, if God is all
knowing and all seeing, Of course, whatever he
tells me to do is gonna be a lot more effective
than why I can create for myself. There's a reason
why people say that God's Word is living. There's
a reason why we're told in Scripture this is
living. Every time you open the Bible and read
Scripture, when you are in a place to just receive
every problem that you're going through in your
life, there is an answer for it in the Bible.
It might not be word for word. Like this is exactly
what you're going through and this is step -by
-step how to handle it But you Can find the answers
in Scripture and start praying to God that he
guides you in your scripture reading that he
reveals things to you It's crazy. You can read
the same verse a hundred times on a hundred different
days and get a hundred different revelations
and clarity from it I cannot tell you how many
times that Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 has popped up,
but I've been able to use that to navigate like
50 different situations that seem completely
unrelated to one another. And each time I've
seen God's hand move. Now y 'all, this is a very
long episode, so I am drawing to a close. I am
feeling like, okay, it's time to kind of wrap
this up. And I pray that this episode blesses
you. Helps you to navigate opposition and again.
I want to be so clear and reiterate to y 'all
that this is a spiritual battle But yes, there
are people That are making moves, but you have
to remember the bigger spirit behind the people
And the root of what wickedness is actually trying
to do and that's trying to separate you from
God That's trying to stop God's will from being
furthered and when you start looking at the opposition
and these actions instead of just looking at
the people and Seeing the spirit behind it and
the rooted motive behind it. You're able to start
responding differently you're able to start moving
differently and In doing that you are going to
start seeing fruit and it's so important someone
needs to hear this so you can't fake it with
God We see how Jesus called out the Pharisees
where he was like externally y 'all are polished
and clean but inside you're full of dried bones
Where he was saying you're saying the right things
you're making yourselves look holy you look like
good people you look righteous but inside There's
all of these things that need worked. There's
this malintent. There's this greed There's envy,
there's jealousy, there's self -righteousness,
there's all these things. You can present yourself
as holy, but God knows what's really going on
internally. Someone needs to hear that today.
God knows what's going on internally. You can't
fake it with Him. You can, you might be able
to fake it with other people, but you can't fake
it with God. And in God's timing, He will reveal.
And I wanna share with y 'all a prayer I prayed
that I really encourage you to start praying
this prayer. I started praying when I was going
through a period of starting to put my faith
in God and leaving my old life behind. And I
started praying, God, I pray that you help my
unbelief. I acknowledged that I didn't believe
and said, help me to walk by faith, not by sight.
Help me to view things how you want me to view
it. Help me. See people the way you want me to
see them. Help me to move accordingly. Help me
to submit and surrender to your will Help me
to do it I Submit to you and I started praying
remove the desires from my heart that are not
from you and replace them with desires that are
for me I trust that your will is good and the
things that you have planned for me are good
And I know that your ways are higher than my
ways So whatever I have created for myself if
that is not aligned with your will If that is
not what you desire from me, remove it because
I trust that whatever you replace it with is
much better. And I encourage you to start praying
that prayer and to actively seek Him with all
you have. Start praying, God, if I'm handling
this wrong, reveal to me what needs to be changed.
If God has you in a waiting season, if you're
going through this suffering, you're going through
this warfare, there's something He's trying to
produce in you. Ask that He reveals to you what
He's trying to produce. Ask that you lean into
it. Pray, God, help me to lean in. Help me to
move in this. Like, whatever you're trying to
do, I pray that it's done. Help me to submit
to you in this. Reveal things, scabs fall off
my eyes. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear
and an understanding heart. And watch what he
does with that prayer. Now, I wanna thank y 'all
so much for listening to this podcast episode.
And I do ask that you hit subscribe. Wherever
it is you're listening to this podcast, subscribe.
Share this share this with somebody. It's really
helpful when you share the podcast and leave
a review If you're on Spotify, you can leave
a review you can leave comments Reviews are really
helpful for me right now engaging and understanding
and also pushing the content out there more So
I do encourage you leave reviews if you're listening
on YouTube leave comments If you're listening
on Apple or wherever it is you're listening,
I do encourage you to do that, to interact a
bit. And I want to thank you so much for listening
to this episode and I'll see you guys next time.
This was Salt Knot Sweetener. I'm your host Danielle
Townsend. Have a wonderful, wonderful day.