Do not despair, do the opposite!

I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait for and confidently expect the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord .

Psalm 27:13-14

Are you like me today? Are you battling physical pain, painful heartbreak, and a spirit of despair? I was not at all delighted to discover from an initial diagnosis this past week that the literal “pain in my neck” may be the result of bone spurs and a pinched nerve, as well as a possible additional cause of which I will not mention nor am I willing to accept – not today, Satan. Not taking it, but receiving full healing by faith, amen. (After writing this and seeing an Orthopedic Spine doctor, I learned the real root and culprit is my shoulder – so there’s another lesson – getting to the root of our pain sometimes takes a little time). Yes, irregardless of what I am experiencing or any medical diagnosis, I am believing God will bring healing and restoration, and relief from all the recent intense pain traveling into my upper back, right shoulder and arm and occasionally in my head too. On top of this, a few other painful scenarios are in total opposition to my many prayers of faith. While standing in faith believing the promise of restoration grounded in God’s covenant promises, certain situations appear to be taking a detour in a discouraging direction. Can you relate? So, this is what faith is for. The promises of God are only fulfilled as we keep on believing, expecting, waiting for and trusting to receive them by faith all in God’s timing – no matter what we are currently seeing or experiencing.

In the process of waiting and expecting God’s good promises to be fulfilled in our own land of the living – in our hearts, homes, and families – and in this fight of faith, the enemy wants to wear us out to the point of giving up on hope, giving up on faith, giving up on God’s promises, giving up on people, giving up on the church, and ultimately giving up on God, His faithfulness, His goodness and His good purposes for us altogether. He also wants to stop us from declaring His Word over our own lives and sharing God’s truth and our testimony of all that we have overcome with others. For believers, we know our citizenship in Heaven has been secured by the precious blood of our Savior, Jesus. However, if we desire to live abiding in the overcoming victory and abundant life that Jesus died to give us, as well as fulfilling our assignments to be used as instruments of light, love, joy and peace, we have to be aware that we will always encounter opposition. The enemy’s ultimate goal for believers is to steal, kill and destroy our divine assignments as the hands and feet of Jesus on earth for such a time as this. He is not only the father of lies, an accuser of the brethren, but a distractor that devises schemes to derail us from fulfilling God’s good plans and purposes.

The Apostle Paul encountered much opposition too…

“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and. There are many adversaries.”

1 Corinthians 16:9

So, in the midst of all this great opposition, we must do the opposite of what the enemy is enticing us to do.

Here are some common things we often hear from the lying voice of the enemy, or when we start despairing…

…give up;

…don’t pray,

…don’t worship,

…don’t read or listen to the Word of God,

…stop sharing the Word,

…stop speaking the truth and stop writing to help bring you and others in remembrance of the truth (to those of us who relate to feeling compelled by the Spirit to both write and speak);

…stop loving;

…stop forgiving;

and, definitely stop praying for others.

Anytime you hear this, my friend, DO EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE!

Worship. Rest. Get in God’s presence. Wait and just be still in the Lord’s presence.

Receive His peace and refreshing.

Open God’s Word – read it, listen to it, believe it and, especially speak it over your life and in your prayers – in spite of what things look like – speak it out loud to the enemy and over your life (just like Jesus did when the temptor tempted Him).

We must keep standing. After having done all, then stand. Beyond keeping all the armor on, do all the repenting, all the obeying, all the worshiping and praying. We must keep standing in faith continuing to believe and remaining hopeful even after many years of delaying. We must keep standing in faith and hopeful expectation of seeing the goodness of God in the land of the living.

This we declare today, Lord:

• Faith reign over my feelings today.

• Hope reign over my despair today.

• Peace reign over all chaos and confusion in my heart and mind today.

Amen.

When facing opposition from the enemy, do the opposite of what his lies are speaking to your mind.

Do not despair, believe, wait and expect to see God’s goodness.

Bind and release. Speak and bind every spirit of confusion and strife and conflict. Agree with God’s Word and the power of His Holy Spirit for order, grace and peace to be released.

Especially on painful and difficult days, we have to do the opposite of what our feelings and emotions are often leading us to do. We can rise up and overcome despair through worship and prayer. We can rise up and overcome by focusing on God’s Word to strengthen and renew our hope in the God who is our hope. We can rise up and decree and declare who we are in Christ as overcomers. We can rise up and decree and declare God’s promises and specifically that we will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Amen.

I wait [patiently] for the Lord, my soul [expectantly] waits, And in His word do I hope.

Psalm 130:5

Be joyful in hope, patient in afflictions, and always remain faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.

Romans 15:13

Other Scripture References: Matthew 4; John 10:10; 1 Timothy 6:12; Ephesians 6:10-18; Hebrews 11:1, 6; Romans 8:28; Revelation 12:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Luke 10:19; Matthew 18:18-20