Tiptoeing through the tulips is not an appropriate analogy or description of living for God. When you make the decision to live for Him, you are actually enlisting in the army of the Lord. You are putting yourself on the front lines of the age-old battle between good and evil. Anyone who truly purposes in their heart to fulfill the calling of God is going to encounter resistance. We must “put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:11–12).
Don’t be caught off guard when the going gets tough. Job’s “friends” will always be around to offer the majority opinion that the source of your trouble is invariably your own shortcomings. If the truth be told, sometimes trouble comes not because of what you are doing wrong, but because of what you are doing right!
Rejoice through the Process
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (I Peter 4:12–13).
The same anointing that perhaps has attracted some trouble and persecution is what is going to eventually take you through your trouble. However, many Christians forsake their anointing at the first sign of adversity, which brings them back under the yoke of bondage. We are reminded in Scripture to “stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).
The anointing will not forsake us, but we can forsake it. Samson made the mistake of forsaking his anointing. Thankfully, because the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, the only failure that carries the weight of finality is the failure to reconsecrate and recommit to one’s calling. In spite of all the mistakes he made along the way, Samson was fulfilling his God-given purpose at the end of life, just as he was when the Spirit of the Lord first began to move him. His purpose was to deliver God’s people from the tyranny of the Philistines. And he did that to a greater degree on the day of his death than he had done in all the rest of his life combined. If you have momentarily lost your way, you likewise can reunite with your God-given purpose. You are still in God’s plan!
Marty Bryant is an author, ordained minister, and bivocational pastor who has been involved in Christian ministry for more than thirty years.
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