My posts have been a little scarce of late; things have been hopping around here in an interesting way.

After months of feeling stuck, I received two equally wonderful ministry opportunities, leaving me with one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in recent (or distant, for that matter!) memory. I set about seeking God’s direction over the next week, enlisting the help of all my prayer warriors and setting aside a specific day for fasting and concentrated prayer.

On the day before fasting, I was slammed with a horrible migraine. It knocked me out for the entire day, rendering it a waste and completely unproductive. Determined, I awoke the next day to begin my fast. The migraine lingered for a while, then, thankfully, left…only to be replaced by intense, racking body pain. Flu? No. Just the pain. Then, Hubs called and said that our builder was putting road blocks up with the bank on our interim financing. On the heels of that call, our architect emailed, saying that the house we were wanting to build would not fit on the property if it was designed the way we wanted. That, of course, wouldn’t be a problem if there was any other spot on the property that was not in flood plain or in the way of a necessary culvert. It looked like our build project was quickly heading south. To top it all off, the moment after I got off the phone with Hubs, telling him of this latest development, the dog tossed his cookies (and what appeared to be everything he’d consumed for the last two days) on the carpet, at my feet.

I will admit to feeling very distracted, very defeated, and on my way to very depressed. Then, the Lord spoke to my heart…

You have an enemy that doesn’t want this day with Me,
or your entry into this ministry, to succeed.
Fight back.

We are in the midst of opposition, aren’t we? Every attempt we make to advance our own relationship with God, let alone His kingdom, is met with opposition from all sides. If the enemy taunted and tempted Christ, what in the world makes us think we’ll be treated any differently?

When Christ was sent into the desert and tempted, it was right after He was baptized and stepping into public ministry. Certainly, any time we’re trying to be obedient and follow God into His kingdom work (no matter what that looks like), satan is going to turn up the heat. Christ dealt with the temptation through quoting scripture, and I’m here to tell you, if it worked for Him, it will certainly work for us!

I fought back. I yelled at that blasted enemy with scripture, right here in my little apartment, and continued with my fast. I hurt all over…BAD…and I was sorely tempted to throw in the towel and crawl into bed.

But I didn’t.

This is what happened:

  • I got a word on the direction I was to go. Not on the fast day, but the day after my “war” with the devil. It was in God’s timing and it was confirmed, just as I had asked.
  • My body pain went completely away by the next morning. No headache…no body aches…nothing.
  • We went searching for houses again yesterday, and are putting an offer on another house this evening. It’s beautiful, and it’s a foreclosure, making it an exceptional deal.
  • The dog never threw up again. (grin)

Life is hard. The enemy does his best to make it harder. But following after God is worth whatever opposition we have to go through.

It is so, so worth the fight.

Photo credit: evaiksno