Victory Through Obedience
All the enemy does is steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10.) We too often allow him to steal what God has given us or placed in front of us. Even if he hasn’t entirely stolen what God has given us, maybe he has a firm grip upon something he has no place touching.
I believe it’s because we don’t understand what God wants to do with the things He has placed before us, and the enemy knows too well the extravagant plans that God has and the powerful ways He is going to move through us with the gifts He’s gifted and entrusted us with.
The enemy wanted to silence me when I started to walk out the call of leading worship. He wanted to silence my voice, my singing, and even silence me playing my instruments. I let him instill lies about who I was and doubts about the gift and call to worship on my life. The more and more I would worship, the more and more I would feel heavy pushback. At the time, I had no idea the depths in which God wanted to take me through worship, but the enemy did, which is why he was trying to stop me.
For too long, I allowed the enemy to have a chokehold on me. I felt that as soon as I progressed in the right direction, I would get hit and knocked down a few steps. As I was walking through this constant, dark battle with a close friend/mentor, they told me something that completely changed my perspective. She told me that I was playing defense and it was time for me to start playing offense. I realized that I needed to go to war against the darkness that the enemy was trying to drown me in.
I began to shut out the lies and fight the opposition with more worship. I stopped letting the enemy have any say in who God says I am and who He’s called me to be. When I continued to be obedient to God and open my mouth when the enemy wanted to silence me, I started to see the greater anointing that God has on my life unfold.
The enemy knew he could no longer silence my worship, singing, and praise, so he tried to silence other areas of my life. I found that he was still trying to silence my words differently than before, and that was now in the area of evangelism.
I recently discovered that I have a heart and desire for evangelism. The Lord showed me a vision of someone (a non-believer) that I knew and loved standing before Him on the day of judgment. All in a moment, this person realized that my life as a Follower of Jesus wasn’t for nothing. They realized that everything I had ever said and done relating to following Jesus was for a reason, and I was right about God. As they thought of me and my life, they said, “she knew the truth (the true and only way to Heaven) this whole time? Why didn’t she say anything to me?” This broke my heart to think about, but it ultimately opened my eyes. I realized I don’t want anyone I know or come in contact with to suffer eternal punishment because I never shared the gospel with them. I never want to pass up another opportunity to tell someone about the powerful and beautiful life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Many people have this same passion and desire. Yet, why do we feel so nervous, maybe even scared to open our mouths to talk about Jesus? We become consumed with lies and fear and perhaps even start coming up with excuses as to why we shouldn’t say anything. That’s because the enemy wants to instill fear and doubt in us so that we stay silent.
But God calls us to silence the enemy. He has called us to be obedient to Him. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7.) God’s word rules over all things, including all the lies of the enemy. And He has given us that authority, in Jesus’ name, to silence the enemy's lies.
When it comes to evangelism, all we must do is be obedient to God. Open our mouths and allow the Holy Spirit to move through us. The rest is up to God. We just have to be obedient to take that first step, to make a move, to open our mouths and let Him take over.
God will show you so much and do so much more than you could ever imagine when you begin to open your mouth in obedience to Him. Just rely on His strength because it’s through Him that anything will happen. He will strengthen you and give you the words to say, the things to do, and the abilities you need to accomplish what He’s asking you to, not in your strength but through His strength alone.
I will no longer give the enemy a foothold in any area of my life, no matter how big or small. He can no longer silence me. I have begun to see the mighty hand of God work through me when I simply become a vessel for Him to pour out wherever He leads me. One step of obedience can change lives for eternity.
So instead of walking in partiality to God's call on our lives, let us fully submit to and rely on Him. We must resist the devil, not giving him a foothold to stand on. We need to trust that even though we don’t know what will come, God does, and He is victorious in the end. His ways are higher, His plans are better, and He will be glorified through our obedience to Him. Let us live a life of obedience to Jesus.
