How to Oppose Opposition...

"Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners,

so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Hebrews 12:3 NIV

✶ Pray.  When you feel opposition--in a relationship, in the environment, in a waiting period, in your job, finances, health, faith, purpose or spirit--it can affect the way your mind perceives and your heart feels. Prayer keeps you connected to the perspective and the heart of God, which is vital to opposing opposition. Prayer is powerful. Continual prayer is necessary. Why? Because it gives us permission to seek God daily for His help. Yes, He already knows we need help, but what prayer does for us is that it allows us to recognize and admit our need for God. He is our Daily Bread--the sustenance we need to oppose opposition. Also, keep in mind that if the enemy can't directly attack us, he may attack and use others around us to oppose us, so "never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God's people." (Ephesians 6:18 CEV) Pray, then, for the people in your life, for perspective, for peace, for the positioning of God's army, for the power to stay quiet or to speak up, for the presence of God to be so completely evident, and for the provisions you need to go through and oppose opposition.

✶ Keep focused on God's will. Keeping focused on God's will will keep you from relying on your own knowledge and understanding of the situation. Sometimes opposition happens because of something we've done, something God allows, or simply from living in a sinful world. Regardless of the reason, God alone knows how to deal with opposition, so seeking His Will above your own will keep you from putting yourself in a potential position of more opposition. In God's Will there is peace, and peace is the perfect antidote to any opposition."'I have told you these things, so that in me [Jesus] you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.'" (John 16:33 NIV)

✶ Work with all your heart. "For the people worked with all their heart" (Nehemiah 4:6 NIV) Opposition of any kind aims to discourage, destroy, decrease, derail, or distract you from God and His plans. You, though, don't have to let opposition overtake you or any part of your life. You can choose to oppose opposition by working with all your heart to find joy, seek peace, live for Christ, do what is right regardless, wait on God, praise Him, give thanks, and to be a light in the darkness. These efforts don't go unnoticed nor do they go unblessed. When we work with all our hearts for the glory of God, the glory of God will work for us.

✶ Set doors in place. "They dedicated it and set its doors in place." (Nehemiah 3:1 NIV) Nehemiah chapter three focuses on the rebuilding of the gates as part of the overall rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. (Note: I highly recommend reading the book of Nehemiah. The inspiration of this devotional came from it.) Repeatedly, in that chapter the point is made that the doors were set in place as the gates were rebuilt (NIV version). I find this point to be profoundly powerful when opposing opposition. Here's why: if we don't put the doors to our hearts, minds, emotions, souls, and strength "in place", then the enemy has access. "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7 NIV) Boundaries both for yourself and for anyone or anything opposing you are healthy and necessary. Don't allow just anyone--whether in real life, online, in print, or on a screen of any kind--to have access to you in the midst of opposition. Don't allow yourself to do or say just anything. Use discernment and align yourself with God's commandments, instructions, and desires for you by reading His Word and knowing His truth in order to set your doors in place and to shut out what's not of God.

✶ Remember who God is. One of the greater challenges we have when faced with opposition is remembering who God is. We can get so caught up in our feelings of hurt, confusion, frustration, anger, etc. that we forget the fact that God is greater than any opposition. "You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4 CSB) Remembering who God is in moments of opposition will also help us remember who we are in Christ, and because we are His, we can conquer any challenge, any challenger, any opposition.

"After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, 'Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.'"

Nehemiah 4:14 NIV