As wave after wave of resistance buffets you, remember He is your Anchor!

When we turn away from a life of sin and selfish living to our Heavenly Father and start living for Him, we often find ourselves facing opposition that has nothing to do with being on the wrong path. The enemy is a sore loser and hates to lose any of his targeted ones. He is threatened by our obedience to God and the truth, and we learn from Him. Satan does everything in his power to hinder the advancement of God's Kingdom and wages war against those who walk in the path of that Kingdom. This has been recorded again and again in the Bible.

One example is the prophet Nehemiah who was a faithful and loyal servant living in captivity to the King of Persia, Artaxerxes. The King gave Nehemiah permission to go and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah chapter 2. But when Nehemiah and the people began to rebuild the walls, they were mocked, threatened, and plotted against by a Persian named Sanballat, Tobiah his servant, and Geshem the Arabian, who were the enemies of the Jews. Then later, in chapter 4 they conspired to fight against Jerusalem to hinder it. All this because Nehemiah was committed to doing the work of God. His response was prayer and pressing on with the work, saying, “So we prayed to our God and set up a guard against them day and night” (Nehemiah 4:3).

Another example was the Temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11) The enemy tried to hinder and block the mission of Jesus He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights and was weak in the flesh but strong in spirit.

Jesus quoted scripture to the enemy, refusing to give in to the temptations set before Him.

Probably the longest recorded adversarial attack is in the book of Job. In chapters 1 and 2, God tells us that nothing happens to His people without His permission. Satan petitioned God for the opportunity to test Job and was granted permission with the exception of taking Job's life. Job's reaction to losing everything and suffering untold agony physically throughout the trial is decided in chapter 2, “What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?

These attacks of the enemy were intended to break Nehemiah, Job, and Jesus. The attacks on us are for the same purpose, but God was with each one and they prevailed against the enemy.

Remember Paul's words in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” When we press forward in the work of the Kingdom of God, the spiritual resistance increases.

Peter's words support that increase as well in 1Peter 5:8-9, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, searching for someone to devour. Stand up against him, firm in your faith.” The enemy does not attack those who are idle; he attacks those who are active in the faith.

As it was for them, so it is for us. Encountering resistance and hardships while serving the One True God is not always a sign that we are not on track but is often the confirmation that we are exactly where we should be. After all, no enemy wastes his energy fighting someone who is no threat to his kingdom!