Believe for Victory

Have you ever faced a challenge that made you wonder if you should continue?  I can think of so many times I've started something and wanted to quit.  My favorite endeavor was completing my doctorate.  I honestly thought about quitting on several occaisions.  One day in the middle of that journey I started to cry.  Why? Well, I hadn't slept more than 8 in hours in 3 days, I was working full time, trying to help my son with babysitting, and my mother was dying. 

I truly wanted to quit.  Or at least hold off for a while.  You know what I mean.  I wanted to wait until the perfect moment.  That imaginary moment when there are no life stresses, no work or family commitments, and simply no extra pain.  And more, I became my own worst enemy by literally trying to talk myself out of it.  But then, I had this wonderful group of people who helped me see that I could do it.  That I would finish on time and they would be my support team.  What a blessing that was!  And because of Debi, Juan, Carol, Teresa, and My wonderful husband Mark- I did just that.  I finished on time, and in enough time for my mother to know I was officially Dr. Wilkens.  She died 1 week later. 

Now how could I have ever done such a thing if I let my own thoughts take me down.  Instead I had these awesome friends and family who helped be realize I was in a rut and that I would reach that mountain top.  I would see the victory of reaching the summit!  Sometimes we get in that rut when we are stepping out in faith.  Pastor Joyce gives us insight on how our faith walk can be derailed when we forget that no matter what, we have Victory in Jesus! And we can do anything he calls us to.  

 

Believe For Victory January 13

The enemy should not be our focus, yet we should be alert to his tactics and aware of the fact that he will attack when our guard is down and our shield (of faith) is not in position. The devil devises plans for your defeat and destruction. But God is the captain of the armies that you have authority to dispatch on behalf of others and yourself.

Throughout the scriptures we read of battle plans against God’s people yet every time they called upon the Lord, He delivered them from their destruction.  The Spirit of God has a strategy for every battle we face; a strategy for victory and not defeat.  David was a mighty warrior king who knew how to go against the enemy, and his first course of action was to ask the Lord what He should do.

In 2 Samuel Chapter 5 we read that right after victory the Philistine army came against David, he defeated them when directed by the Lord to face them head on in battle. Then the enemy army regrouped to make another attack.  This time the Lord told David, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. So it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly, for the Lord will go out before you and strike the camp of the Philistines.”

You may face the enemy head on one day and circle around him the next; the Lord is on your side and He will fight for you, but he seldom fights without your involvement which comes mainly through prayer.  Jesus said in Matthew 21:21-22 “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt...if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and cast in the sea,’ it will be done. All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing you will receive.”