You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 3)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 33 "And Saul said to David: You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth"
Every time you take an important decision to face the devil, there will always be circumstances to discourage you. When you take a firm decision to pray or fast, there will be circumstances or important visits to disturb you.
The devil is clever enough to use people who love us, who come as trying to give us some advice but in reality it’s all about discouraging words, and if we listen to them, we fall into his trap. Take the example of Jesus: When he was about to announce to the disciples that the time had come to suffer and die, Peter could not stand it and took him apart to suggest a solution, saying: " Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You! But He turned and said to Peter: Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men "(Matt 16: 22-23). Peter thought he was encouraging him to save him but he did not know that he was used by the devil. When Jesus discerned it, He didn’t rebuke Peter but Satan while talking to Pierre. He said: "Get behind me, Satan!”
In the verse of the day (1 Sam 17: 33), King Saul was desperate but impressed by the little David who was confident of defeating the giant Goliath. Based on his experience, Saul said to David: “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth". You may be in a situation where a friend or a relative is trying to convince you that it’s worthless to try because you do not have a college degree or you do not have any influential people in your family. Maybe someone keeps reminding you that your sickness is incurable and that you can only wait for death; Even if your doctor told you that you cannot give birth, I rather suggest you to listen to the word of God which proclaims that what is impossible with men is possible with God (Luke 18: 27) .
Another strategy of the devil to discourage us is to distract us with reasoning consistently in connections with common sense. Eliab, David's older brother was angry because of David’s determination and told him: “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle "(1 Sam 17: 28). Logically, the big brother was right because the few sheep abandoned in the desert was not at all a good thing but David could see more than a few sheep: He saw the glory of God by cutting off the head of Goliath. You should therefore be vigilant because the devil can even use the closest people in your life.
To be continued in Part Four
Chris Ndikumana
