DaySpring Daily Word of Inspiration: 2 Thessalonians 3:3 – But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.
We have to remember that as Christians we are not alone. We have a body; a family if you will, of believers that we can count on and pull resources from in our various times of need. I think it is interesting how at times we can overlook the power in our godly friendships and how God uses them. Sometimes we look for the “big bang”, that meaning we’re looking for God to show up miraculously in our situations and turn us into super believers because we’ve seen him in person. Sorry to tell you all, those days have passed. God isn’t making any special appearances anymore… but trust me when he does, everyone will know. But I digress.
Today, we have to truly understand the way he makes his appearances and recognize his hand of protection. In times of old and ever more so now, God uses people to get his work done. This isn’t just work in his churches (although that is part), it is work in each other’s lives too. Let me see if I can make that one plain.
Let’s look at a couple of examples: suppose your friends (Christian friends) invite you to an outing and you decline because you’ve already made plans with your other friends (non-Christian friends) to go somewhere you know might not be the best place for you to be. Or take this, you’ve been praying to God to send you some relief or assistance with a situation in your life; whether it be financial or relational, you’ve asked for the help. You get a random call from a friend (Christian friend) who had it put on their heart to call you and offer you some money or just to talk about what’s going on in your life, but you decline the offer of the funds or you make cool saying that all is well and you’ve been just fine.
What has happened here? These two separate situations both have the spirit world hard at work but both have the same common problem. In each scenario you have God trying to strengthen you and show you he is present but the enemy is right there as well trying to pull you further from God’s presence. God is trying to protect you and show you that he is faithful, but the enemy is preying off of your carnal wants vs your spiritual desires. So what’s the problem, we are believers and we know that there are forces at work trying to point us to God and point us away, but how do we lose? The problem is US! We stand in the way of God proving himself to be faithful, our provider, our source of strength and our protector.
In the situation with the party, God had already provided that gut feeling about where you were going (protector), then he provided a way out with Christian friends inviting you to hang out (faithful), and lastly, little did you know, they were going to encourage you with something special that evening (strengthening). What about the other situation? Well you prayed and God had someone call you out the blue (faithful), they were ready to provide exactly what you needed (strengthened), and it would have reassured your heart and spirit that God hears your prayers and his words are true that he will provide for those who seek him (protection for your heart). However, because we are who we are, once again we missed God hard at work showcasing how he wants to protect us from the evil one.
Today we pray that we can begin to see that God is always on our side. He is faithful, he wants to strengthen us, and protect us from the evil one. Are you letting God do his good work in your life or are you resisting or oblivious to his hand trying to save you from yourself? Remember God is the same always! It is us who continue to get off track and distort our vision of him. Remove yourself out of the way today and let God move in your life. If you’re constantly being beat up by the evil one, maybe you aren’t letting God fend for you. Surrender to God today and let him protect, strengthen and guide you faithfully into eternity. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!