"Since we have been acquitted and made right through faith, we are able to experience true and lasting peace with God through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, the Liberating King. Jesus leads us into a place of radical grace where we are able to celebrate the hope of experiencing God's glory. And that's not all. We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God's goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God's love." (Romans 5:1-5 voice translation).
In my last couple of posts I talked about how Ezekiel was swept up by God and put into the valley of dry bones. God literally set him down in the middle of the valley. I wrote about how God walks with us through the piles of bones, the piles of our circumstances that sometimes feel like they just keep adding up and surrounding us with endless piles of stuff. A lot of times things get piled up even to the point where we become emotionally and physically exhausted trying to rely on our own strength to hold everything together.
Have you come to a place where the exhaustion from trying to fight the battle on your own strength has just hit you and knocked you down?
I actually experienced this when I was alone in my dorm room yesterday morning. I had spent the last several days running on fumes because I was having trouble sleeping. There were several days in the past week that I was only getting four hours of sleep per night because I was so heartbroken over my mom's passing that happened in August and my grandfather's brain cancer diagnosis. Some days are better than others, but sometimes this level of grief hits me in waves at the most unexpected moments. So there I was in my dorm room sleep deprived, emotionally exhausted with grief, and all the while trying to keep up with my school work too. I ended up being so exhausted and so overwhelmed with everything that I had an emotional and mental breakdown.
But I want you to know that is not the end of my story. Because today, God used my breakdown to show me that I need to trust him with my pain and suffering. The only way that I can get through the valley is by walking through it with God. I am learning through my grief process that the only way I am going to endure and celebrate what God has been doing in my season of suffering is by walking in pace with God, step by step. Sometimes we as humans are always in a rush to get to the end of the story before the story even really begins. We want to claim the victory that God has promised us through his son Jesus without first experiencing his presence with us. We want the outcome to get better so that we can keep living what we think is the answer or the formula to a good life without actually deepening our relationship with Christ.
We have all been in that spot where we didn't want to walk through the pain and face our fears or our problems. Instead, we would much rather avoid them by either trying to run ahead of God through the process of our pain so that we can just hurry it up and get it over with, or by trying to stay stuck in a place that God never intended us to stay in the hopes that we can preserve what we believe was better than what God has planned for us right here, right now as well as in the future to come. I am learning that I can't run ahead of God and I can't stay stuck in the same place that I had been in my grief process so I know I am going to have to walk through it slowly. Step by step with Jesus.
What is amazing about walking through the valley with God, like Ezekiel did, was that even though I have been facing some really tough situations in the past year he has been walking with me and holding me up in ways that I didn't know about until I took the time to sit down and reflect how he has carried me to this present moment. Yes, there have been times where I have struggled with trying to process my pain and grief with God instead of leaning on my own understanding. Yes, there have been times when I forgot to rely on God's strength instead of my own and ended up going through some emotional exhaustion. But even in those times God has brought me through it. He didn't abandon me when the going got tough. God does not and will not forsake us in the midst of hardship in the valley. In fact, in the middle of our toughest battles is where Jesus wants to stand with us the most because that is the place where the relationship with Jesus grows. However, he won't barge in and take over without an invitation from us. My grandmother likes to say that Jesus is a gentleman and he is knocking on the door, but he won't enter unless he is invited by us to do so.
Something changes when we invite Jesus into our valley. In the middle of the piles of bones that we feel like are overwhelming us. When Jesus comes in, he makes a way where there is no way. A miracle where there seems to be no miracle to be found. A new found hope and stronger faith that we didn't think was even possible. A refreshing of our souls and a strength that is breathed into us that helps us to continue to stand in the face of the adversity and the spiritual warfare that Satan tries to throw at us to discourage us from enduring and relying on the hope of God.
How does Satan try to discourage us from enduring and leaning on the hope of God? For me, Satan attacks my thoughts when I am by myself in my room at night. He likes it when we are isolated from everything because that is when we are most vulnerable to his lies. Sometimes, what this looks like is a thousand different chaotic voices at once screaming at me to stop believing that anything good can come out of my situations. What is even worse about these thoughts is that they often lead me to feeling so overwhelmed, anxious, and fearful that I forget to pray against them in that present moment.
But then I am reminded that I am a child of God. A soldier in the Lord's mighty army that has already gained the victory over the schemes of the enemy because of my identity and salvation in Jesus. Oh what a blessing it is to stand against the enemy with the weapon that he most hates. When I remind him of who I am in Christ, I get the upper hand in the battle that Satan has tried to wage against me. The enemy hates it when we stand up for ourselves and remind him of our identity in Christ. He knows if we remember our identity and know who God is then he has been defeated.
I'm gonna tell you about a warfare weapon that you can use against Satan when he tries to discourage you from hoping and anticipating the goodness of God. This is something that I have been practicing the past few weeks as I am learning what it means to walk with God in the valley. I want to encourage you to pick up a pencil and four pieces of paper and find a place to sit quietly with God, where there are no distractions. The purpose of this activity is to practice actually sitting with God and doing warfare against the enemy's tactics when he tries to bring you to the place of discouragement and despair. Before you write on the paper, ask God to show you how he has been faithful and brought you through situations that felt hopeless but somehow God brought hope where it seemed it was impossible. Then write a list of some of the things that God has brought to your heart about his faithfulness on the first piece of paper.
For the second paper, ask God to show you statements of truth of who he says he is and who he says you are as a child of God and then write those down. On the third piece of paper, ask God to show you Bible verses that you can look back at when you are feeling discouraged and can use in your warfare against the enemy when he tries to attack your mind with thoughts that are not of God. I have provided some Bible verses about the truth of God, goodness of God, and the hope we can have in him below to help you get started. Lastly, on your fourth piece of paper ask God to help you write a warfare statement against the enemy that is based in the truth of scripture that God has revealed to you through this exercise. Find a place where you can hang up these four pieces of paper where you will be able to see it everyday so that you can pray out loud against Satan's tactics to steal, kill, and destroy the peace and hope you have in Jesus. I encourage you to pray and meditate on the lists that you created and the warfare statement on a daily basis so that you will not be caught off guard and can defeat the enemy with the word of God. I have also provided an example of one of my warfare statements along with the scriptures at the bottom of this page.
Warfare Scriptures:
1 Corinthians 15:57 - "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 3:1 - "Therefore, brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your eyes on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest."
2 Timothy 1:7 - "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
1 Peter 5:10 - "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast."
Psalm 32:7 - "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."
Psalm 25:5 - "Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."
Romans 12:2 - "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will."
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 - "For though we walk in the world, we do not fight according to this world's rules of warfare. The weapons of the war we're fighting are not of this world but are powered by God and effective at tearing down the strongholds erected against His truth. We are demolishing arguments and ideas, every high-and-mighty philosophy that pits itself against the knowledge of the one true God. We are taking prisoners of every though, every emotion, and subduing them into obedience to the Anointed One."
Ephesians 6:10-20 - "Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We're not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God: so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground. Yes, stand - truth banded around your waist, righteousness as your chest plate, and feet protected in preparation to proclaim the the good news of peace. Don't forget to raise the shield of faith above all else, so you will be able to extinguish flaming spears hurled at you from the wicked one. Take also the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray always. Pray in the Spirit. Pray about everything in every way you know how! And keeping all this in mind, pray on behalf of God's people. Keep on praying feverishly, and be on the lookout until evil has been stayed. And please pray for me. Pray that truth will be with me before I even open my mouth. Ask the Spirit to guide me while I boldly defend the mystery that is the good news - for which I am an ambassador in chains - so pray that I can bravely pronounce the truth, as I should do."
Warfare Statement: "I am a child of God. I will not cower in fear because I know that my God is faithful. I will not give into the spirit of anxiety or depression. I cast them out in the name of Jesus. Spirits of fear, depression, anxiety, confusion, restlessness, rebellion and chaos have no place here. I cast them out in the name of Jesus. You have no authority over my heart, mind, or soul. You do not have power over my family or my circumstances. Spirits of doubt, hopelessness, despair, and unbelief, I cast you out in the name of Jesus. The plans of the enemy this day have been found out and abolished by the power and authority that the Lord has given me as a child of the most high God. Every territory that you, Satan, have tried to steal, kill, and destroy I am taking back in the name of Jesus. I declare that healing is being brought to my body physically and mentally. I declare that this day my mental health is restored in the name of Jesus. Every thought, every emotion, I bring under the authority of Jesus Christ. Praised be to God because he has brought me out of the pit of despair and has walked with me through the hardships in the valley. My identity is in Christ and I will not be afraid. Fear and anxiety have no place in my home, my family, my work place, my relationships, my thoughts and emotions, or in my circumstances. Today I am beginning the steps to take back the victory that I have in Christ. No longer, Satan, will you isolate me and feed me lies about my circumstances. The Lord has good plans for my life and will not destroy the good work that he has begun in me. Spirits of anger and bitterness I also cast you out in the name of Jesus. For you have tried to to rob me of my peace and hope in God. I will not stand for it! Every lie that the enemy has tried to tell me is not accepted here. Praised be to God that I can stand firm against the enemy with the truth of God. Praised be to God that I can stand firm against Satan's schemes by putting on the armor of God. This day I will cast all my cares on the Lord in prayer. I break every stronghold over my life and my family's lives. I break every stronghold and form of bondage that is holding back the people I come into contact with from being set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. This day I invite Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit to help me do battle against the enemy in these areas and I release everything to the Lord so that he can have his way and bring victory over every area for his glory. And so that I am reminded of who God is and so others can be reminded of the goodness of God. I relinquish my control over everything and lay it down at the feet of Jesus so that I am not weighed down by the weight of the world, but so that I can run the race of faith in the freedom that Jesus gives me. Thank you Lord for being my freedom and breaking the strongholds in these areas of my life. I declare all of these things in Jesus' name, Amen.
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