Everything is Not Against You

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One of my favorite aspects of God is that He knows how to reach my heart.  Every activity, every discussion becomes an opportunity to make me aware of what He is thinking.  Sometimes, God uses moments to reveal when my faith and my thoughts don’t match.  I recently had one of those inner-cringe moments where I was gently, but firmly put on notice that I needed to repent.

My son and I like to snuggle on the couch and read the Bible together before he goes upstairs for bedtime.  We were reading in Genesis, right as Joseph sends his brothers back to Canaan with a warning not to return for more food unless they bring his younger brother, Benjamin, with them. 

To set the stage for those of you who don’t know the story—Joseph, the second-youngest son of Jacob (there are 12 sons altogether), has been sold into slavery by his older half-brothers and, later, wrongly imprisoned.  Then, in an only-God way, Joseph is made second in command by Pharaoh over all of Egypt, because he correctly and wisely advises Pharaoh of a coming famine and how to prepare for it. One more thing—to cover for their actions, the half-brothers convinced their father, Jacob, that Joseph was missing and presumed eaten by a wild animal.

So, this famine is a big one—seven years long—and it is also happening in Canaan (later Israel).  Jacob and his sons hear that there’s grain aplenty in Egypt (thanks to Joseph’s proactive policies).  So, Jacob sends most of Joseph’s brothers to Egypt with money and things to trade.  When they get there, Joseph recognizes them, but they do not recognize him (It’s been over 12 years since they’ve seen him).  Joseph accuses them of being spies and tells them, that to prove they are not spies, to leave one of the brothers behind in Egypt (Simeon), and to bring back the youngest brother (Benjamin).  Joseph promises his brothers that, once they do that, they will be able to freely trade in Egypt.

Now, we as the readers of the story are somewhat privy to Joseph’s thinking.  We know that Joseph just wants to reunite with his family, and he is testing the brothers’ characters to see if they are still the same, cruel, jealous ones who sold him into slavery.  The rest of Joseph’s family, on the other hand, don’t have a clue about what’s really happening in the story. 

In Genesis 42, the brothers come back to Jacob and tell him the demands made by “the lord over the land” (Joseph).  Jacob, as you might imagine, does not take it well, especially when the brothers also discover that the money they had paid for the grain is in their bags, which makes it look like they stole the grain!  Jacob takes it all in and comes to this conclusion:

“Everything is against me!”  (Genesis 42:36, NIV)

Jacob then goes on to tell his sons that if anything happens to Benjamin on the trip down to Egypt that it will kill him, bringing his “grey head down to the grave in sorrow” (42:38).

Here’s the truth of the matter:  We know, as God knows, that nothing is going to happen to Benjamin.  Jacob’s limited, flawed perspective deduces only pain and heartache because he’s missing several pieces of very relevant information.  As Jacob will soon learn, he does not lose his sons Simeon and Benjamin.  Even better, he’s going to reunite with his long-lost son Joseph, who, by the way also uses his considerable power and resources to save Jacob’s entire clan and settle them in great pasture lands.

This is where I want to circle back to my inner-cringe moment.  Romans 8:28 is the verse that I hold as an unshakable truth over my life, and I’ve seen God’s faithful hand take the worst episodes of my life and bless me through them.  Every. Single. Time. 

But, like Jacob, I had chosen to rely on my own, limited, and flawed perspective to conclude that my season of wilderness and transition had become a life sentence, a destiny.  I chose not to believe that there was movement, because I could not see it.  Prophecies spoken over me were not coming into fruition.  Doors closed.  I resolved myself to bury my dreams and hide my disappointment.  Hope got put up on the shelf to gaze upon as I went about my day-to-day life—my own version of “everything is against me”, even as my faith in who God is and who I am in Jesus did not waver one bit.

My faith says:

• I should be confident in God’s promises, even when I don’t see anything happening (Hebrews 11:1, Psalms 27:13-14)
• God gives us His absolute best in Jesus, so He doesn’t hold back from giving us all things we need (Romans 8:32)
• God sets in us the very desires of our heart when He is the focus of our joy and pleasure (Psalms 37:4), and His promises are a guaranteed “Yes” that we can trust (1 Corinthians 1:20)
• God delights in exceeding our expectations (Ephesians 3:20), and His provision is abundant (Psalms 84:11, Philippians 4:19) and perfect (James 1:17)
• God is always right on time with fulfilling His promises (2 Peter 3:9, Habakkuk 2:3)
• God is the most gracious and compassionate Father (Isaiah 30:18), the most loyal Friend (John 15:15), and the wisest Counselor (Isaiah 9:6, John 14:26), and He will always be with me and for me (Deuteronomy 31:6, Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 28:20)  

The apostle Paul testifies that, with God on our side, nothing can effectively stand against us.  The prophet Isaiah assures us that, while we will face adversity throughout our lives, God will not allow adversity to succeed, ultimately.  And of course, Jesus encourages us to remember that He completely, eternally overcame sin, death, and darkness, so what we face is only temporary, and we will come out of it, victorious.

Now, keep in mind who Jacob is—he’s the Jacob of “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Exodus 3:6, 3:15, 4:5; Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 3:13, 7:32).  God identifies Himself with Jacob—How is it even possible that Jacob could even think that “everything is against” him, much less speak it? 

While the Bible does not share how Jacob came to terms with his statement, I can speak to my own epiphany.  Even as I daily, joyfully seek God’s face and cherish every new revelation about Him as found treasure, I can and do choose to take my focus off Him and listen to the insidious whispers and gaze at the elaborate illusions that the enemy tries to convince me as real.  No one is above this temptation—Jesus Himself faced (and completely shut down) such temptation.  This is a choice, and in that there is great news: a better choice is always available. 

When I read Jacob’s reaction to Joseph’s order, I knew I first needed to repent, to turn back to God.  The first time we see this meaning of repent is in 1 Kings 8:47, where King Solomon is praying to God on behalf of the entire nation of Israel to bless and sanctify the Temple in Jerusalem.  He prophetically prays, that if God’s chosen people should fall away from Him and be exiled from the land and taken captive (which is precisely what happens 237 years later to Israel, and then to Judea, 135 years after Israel fell), for God to hear them and forgive them if they should “have a change of heart…and repent”.  This is what repentance means: to change your heart and turn it back towards God.  This is a choice to refocus from what your physical senses reveal and how your heart responds to the truth of God’s character and nature.

Repentance is always the first step to aligning your heart with God’s.  This was the message of John the Baptist, and his ministry was to prepare the hearts of the people for receiving God’s Kingdom.  When you align your heart with God’s, you see situations as He sees them, and that protects your heart.

One more point about repentance—It is likely something you will have to do more than once, until you get it so deep into your spirit that the enemy’s words and illusions seem hollow (which they are!).  Don’t despair if you have to revisit wrong thinking over and over, because God never runs out of mercy, and lavishly pours grace over His children when they repent.

Once you are aware of what you need to repent, you are ready to take the second step in aligning your heart: taking the thought captive and submitting it to God. This is how I do it—It starts with self-awareness, and that requires a quiet, reflective, and honest assessment of whether my thoughts line up with what God says in His Word.  Frankly, it doesn’t matter if someone said or did something to make my beliefs move out of alignment—how I respond is what counts.  I then take my thoughts to God and I talk with Him about them.  I trade each wrong thought for God’s truth. 

It goes something like this (Let’s use the news as an example):

1. I read a news story that makes me upset or frustrated. (Look at the work of the enemy)
2. I voice my opinion about it (sometimes to no one in particular) and tell a story about all the bad things that might happen because of the words and actions of the object of the news.  (Take my focus off God and give life to the enemy’s handiwork)
3. Later, when it is quiet, I think about what my reaction accomplished (elevated heart rate, negative mood change, diverted focus away from God). (Self-awareness)
4. I realize that the news story is written to evoke a visceral response, and it succeeded in having temporary power over my physical and emotional state.  And, it got me to think about something in an ungodly way. (Repent)
5. Humbly, I apologize to God for leaving Him out of the story I was telling and for my reaction. I usually meditate on relevant Scriptures to apply as God’s truth. (Begin to take the thought captive)
6. I usually then pray for the opposite spirit towards whatever upset me about the story: If someone spoke false, inflammatory, or prejudiced words, I pray for that person to be blessed with godly wisdom and the courage to act upon it.  If I read about unjust actions, I praise God that His will is ultimately going to prevail, regardless of what happens through humanity’s actions. (Submit the captive thought to God)

Coming with the opposite spirit recognizes God’s supreme authority and brings heaven to earth; getting angry or badmouthing someone (who you do not even know) only empowers the enemy and feeds his chaos, darkness, and death.  There is no neutrality in the Kingdom—when you think and speak God’s truth, you are in alignment with God’s Kingdom.  Conversely, when you think and speak hate and division, you empower the kingdom of darkness.  You have a choice with every thought and word, because your thoughts and words have tremendous power.

7. Finally, I may act to guard my heart and not read the news for a while.  I’ll choose to listen to worship songs, read the Bible or study a teaching from a favorite Bible teacher, or serve someone as God leads me. (Minimize the voice of the enemy and focus back onto God)

As chosen, beloved sons and daughters of the Most High King, we have all of the power and authority we need to choose to believe God’s promises and apply them over our lives and over the world.  We are called to bring heaven to earth (Genesis 1:28, Matthew 28:18-20), and that begins with our own thoughts and beliefs.