Putting The Enemy Under Your Feet
Journey Into The Promised Land
I Am Ready
God did not promise that we would never know sin and sickness, never face persecution or suffer hardships. On the contrary, we know that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus said, “…in the world ye shall have tribulation…” (John 16:33). We know that our faith is going to be tested and tried, but God has promised us victory in every circumstance.
Paul told the Corinthians: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9, NAS). He faced circumstances that were beyond his strength to endure, even to the point of despairing for his own life. He told the believers in Corinth:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life, Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us (2 Corinthians 1:8 10, NIV).
Paul did not moan, groan, and complain about the hardships he suffered. He did not question why God had allowed these things to happen to him. He knew God was in control of his circumstances.
Paul was not shaken by the hardships and sufferings he endured. He was not afraid of what Satan might use to try to defeat him. He didn’t say, “Satan just about got me that time. I just barely made it. I’m so weak and tired. I just don’t know how I’m going to make it.” Something had been forged deep within his spirit. He knew God was providing victory for him in the present. He said, “He will deliver us.” Paul knew that regardless of what he may face, God had also provided victory for him in the future. He said, “On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.”
It was knowing that God had provided victory for him in the past, present and future that enabled Paul to face even death without fear. As he was preparing to die, he said, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6). He wasn’t afraid of any of the circumstances he would face. He said, “I am now ready.” Knowing that no circumstance Satan brought into his life — not even death — could defeat him, he said, “I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom…” (2 Timothy 4:18, NIV).
Make this declaration:
I am ready to face every circumstance knowing God has delivered me in the past, He delivers me in the present, and He will deliver me in the future.
*Adapted from MCWE email – Journey Into The Promised Land by Morris Cerullo
