The Lord gives me tons of these phrases which I promptly post on Facebook to encourage people. Every now and again, it does the opposite and hits a sore spot.
After a positive outpouring, I read this comment a woman named Angela posted:
Why do I doubt this? 2 guys tried to break into my home 7 times… I chased after them once, they continued to harass me, I couldn’t sleep for a year and my nerves took years to recoup and only now do I feel a little better. Tonight I spend the night alone and ain’t going to lie, I doubt I’ll sleep well because I feel that God can’t keep me safe if he let’s them in my yard and starts to destroy my home or steal stuff.
My heart went out to her, and I immediately found my fingers flying over the keys as the Spirit led me. Felt led to share my response with you:
Angela, I’m so sorry about what happened to you. I too have had a number of terrible things happen to me. When evil touches us, it first touches the heart of God. He is with us and feels it deep. He loves us and hates evil with every bleeding fiber of His being. He hated it so much He gave up everything to destroy it. To rescue us and “Deliver us from evil.” We pray to that end. And in the end, evil will be cast into the fire and completely destroyed like a bundle of weeds. But right now, we (the wheat) grow up also among weeds. See Matthew 13:24-30. If God commanded the harvesters (angels) to pull up all the weeds, the wheat would also be uprooted — because it isn’t yet time.
Leaning on our limited understanding only takes us so far in grasping this. We need to trust in God’s love and goodness which fills the gaps. God’s love is more real that past circumstances, and He WILL deliver us into our full destiny. Arrows sometimes get in, but no weapon formed against us shall prosper. The only thing that can stop us from moving forward is ourselves. God uproots arrows and brings healing.
Angela, thank you for being so real!! What you feel is very natural; and I too have felt it before. Even now, I need to be on guard against it. I need to think “super-naturally.” The enemy aches to rub our noses in bad past experiences, so he can sow seeds of fear, doubt, and unbelief. But we can’t be ignorant of His schemes. These harassing spirits only have authority over our souls (mind, will, emotions) if we give it to them. So we don’t, we can’t, and we won’t!
To doubt God’s 100% selfless loving care for us and our families is as dangerous as the bad things we fear might happen to us. But when we give God our sacrifice of praise and trust, we become stronger than we were before. God wants to give you a victory story about how Christ helped you overcome this. You and I MUST come into agreement with what God says and NOT into agreement with the sower of weeds. We can’t let our belief system take a nosedive, and we can’t empower the liar by believing his lies. He has no right to make our lives miserable. I pray we grab hold of God’s strength, choose trust, meditate on His healing promises, and step into the bright future God planned for us with renewed confidence in God as our safe place. God-confidence brings its own reward and is part of God’s strategy for our ultimate protection.
Today is a new day. Let God be true and every evil scheme a liar. Rise up, woman of renewed courage. Wait on the Lord and rise up like an eagle that sees from a higher perspective. Rise up to a new kind of “soar.” Today is your day. The everlasting God is your strength, fortress, and everlasting song!
[box] Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” Matthew 13:24-30[/box]Onward and barn-ward, beloved of the Redeemer and King! Onward and barn-ward!