Be Aware of the Enemy
If you live long enough, you will realize life is tough. Whether it is disease, a death of a loved one, finances or relationships, circumstances are difficult in everyone’s life. Knowing what is coming and preparing for these things is a part of life that we often forget. People can feel “punished” by unfortunate situations. We have to seek God’s Word to know His desire for our lives, and also who is the enemy.
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God wants us to live in peace with a complete dependence on Him. He also wants us to know the devil is the enemy and what he desires for your life.
1 Peter 5:8
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
John 10:10
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
The devil wants to bring despair upon your life to take your focus off the promise of God to prosper you. Take the life of Job. He was a servant of God and was handed over to the enemy and had everything taken from him. He lost his family, his possessions, his friends, and his health, but he continued to trust in God. Those surrounding him encouraged him to curse God and give up the fight, but Job trusted God in the midst of complete despair. Job acted out what we find written later in the New Testament in James 5:10-11.
James 5:10-11
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
We must first give ourselves to God and have a personal relationship with Him. Then we must resist the devil by drawing closer to God when we are tempted or tried by challenging circumstances. Hold firm to the promise we find in Jeremiah 29:11 and trust God has a plan for our future and the devil will flee!
Many people never realize what Job’s reward was for consistently trusting the Lord.
Job 42:10-17:
“After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years.”
God blessed Job’s faith with an abundance of blessings, and this is what He wants for our lives. We must trust God and depend on Him for strength in our times of need. Resist the devil, draw near to God and be blessed.
