OPPOSITION IS A CHAMPIONS FOOD

Adversity can harden you. Or it can loosen you up and make you better – if you let it. Nothing happens to the wise man against his expectations. Genius is the ability to put into effect what is in your mind. Psychologists call it adversarial growth or post-traumatic growth. “That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” is not a cliche but fact. The struggle against opposition and obstacle inevitably propels the fighter to a new level of functioning. The extent of the struggle determines the extent of the growth.

Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly, That people do not believe in you or in your ideas does not necessary mean that you are not good or that your ideas are not good enough. The problem is not with you but with them. For every great invention, we have today encountered this opposition.

If you, therefore want to be great you must learn not to live your life based on the opinion of others but on your convictions, This is true on the personal level. As long as you live with one foot in the world, living according to the world’s values and for the world’s goals, Satan won’t trouble you. You can go to church and even pray and read your Bible, and he won’t mind. But the minute you wake up from your spiritual lethargy, shake off the worldly mindset, and commit yourself to radical obedience to Jesus Christ, you will encounter spiritual opposition.

This also applies to churches and church leaders. Whenever godly leaders attempt to rally God’s people to advance His kingdom, opposition will hit. Satan doesn’t mind when churches gather to sing and to hear soothing sermons about how to use the Bible to achieve personal success. Those churches are no threat to his domain of darkness. But when a minister preaches the gospel that convicts sinners of their sin in the presence of a holy God and points them to the cross of Jesus Christ, look out!

When a minister calls the flock to obedient, holy living in this wicked world, look out! When a minister directs the vision of the flock toward the unreached nations who are waiting to hear the gospel, look out! The enemy is committed to opposing that kind of work. We need to be ready for such opposition and know how to respond to it. You know, when a dog see you and start bragging, if you behave strange that introduce fears or run, it makes it’s adrenaline to raise but your boldness makes it to lose strength.

Opposition can be your friend, Opposition can be the fire that tempers the better sword, as well as the ice that cools a fiery temper. Don’t ever panic, learn from it, There will always be opposition. The enemy will try to get you sidetracked or to give up completely.

Even though it was God’s will for the wall to be rebuilt, in the case of Nehemiah in four chapter, He did not remove the opposition, Even though it is God’s will for you to grow strong in faith and to labor to advance His kingdom, God does not remove the opposition. If you respond properly, the opposition will drive you to greater dependence on the Lord and to greater determination to do what He has called you to do.

If you yield to the opposition, you will quit the race in discouragement or settle in for a mediocre Christian existence, The first defense against the enemy is to be aware and gather momentum, The Devil is a master of disguise and takes on many forms. He comes to conquer you, steal your joy, kill your spirit, and destroy your faith. When you are doing right, he attacks you from the left but know that God is all powerful and God is in you and that no weapon formed against you shall succeed, you hear of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego because they gather momentum during the time of opposition.

When Oprah Winfrey got fired, it initally devastated her. Then it turned out to be a godsend. Oprah’s story is almost unbelievable and yet it is true. She became the undisputed queen of television talk shows before amassing a media empire. Today she is a legend.

RISE ABOVE DISCOURAGEMENT