By: Rex Stump
Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed? In competition, your opponent comes at you with everything they have. At work, you feel like your boss is giving you more than you can handle. At home, one thing after another falls into your lap, piling up, until you are exhausted!
Sometimes life just gets a little too complicated and overwhelming. Stop, take a deep breath, say a prayer, and tackle one thing at a time. Right?
But sometimes, we need to realize that our spiritual enemy is mad at us and is attacking with all his forces!
I was reading in Exodus 14, how Moses and the Israelites left Egypt. Check this out…
“When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds …the Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army—all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops.” (5,9)
Pharoah awakened to an empty Egypt. No hammers banging, no slaves serving, no noises coming from the construction sites. The two million slaves were gone! That angered Pharoah!
Have you ever considered that a great way to anger Satan is to leave our places of sin and head to a place of sanctuary, like church, FCA, or a small group Bible study?
Empty the slave-filled places of sin, and the enemy will be upset. Give up those places that keep you from Jesus, and the enemy will roar.
Both Satan and Pharoah coveted God’s power, both were unyielding to God, and both got enraged when their slaves were freed. Both mustered up their armies to recaptured God’s people.
When we repent and turn to God, we are free from the enemy’s bondage. But the enemy attacks like a wolf, prowls like a lion in search of us.
He will do all he can to trap us, wound us, entangle us in sin, slow us down, intimidate us, and defeat us! The enemy is ruthless!
Let’s acknowledge that the enemy is real, and that he is chasing after us. But let’s also acknowledge that God is greater! God is the victor!
James 4:7-8 “…Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you…”
Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”
Have you decided to be free from sin, repenting to God in prayer? Have you recently been baptized? Are you striving to be at church or in fellowship with other believers more often?
Then YES, you have left your Egypt, and the enemy will pursue you to bring you back! Stay on your spiritual journey with God! Keep moving forward…don’t look back! Acknowledge the enemy but focus on God!
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Rex Stump is the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a Pastor at True North Church in Wauseon, Ohio.