So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Acts 4:18
Father, opposition is a reality in life. There are things that I set my heart and mind to do only to be met with resistance. Things come in the way to block my forward progress frustrating me and causing me to ask You if I will ever get a break. This morning You gave me the opposition that Peter and John faced after just being a blessing to someone against the backdrop of Jame’s words in James 4:6, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” These two verses have caused me to ask myself the question, “Where does my opposition truly come from?”
I confess I never looked at the James verse in that way. Yes, I know You are against my being puffed up. But I never saw it as You coming against me when I am. It is sobering indeed! To think that I can be in a situation where You are opposed to the direction I am going! That the tension and resistance that I am experiencing from others is actually You raising up opposition to what I am attempting to accomplish. May it never be!
On the flip side, there can be opposition that is the result of the world coming against me, not desiring Your will to be advanced in the lives of those around me, You using me to make to advance Your Kingdom. This is the resistance that Peter and John experienced, the type of resistance my soul longs for! Confirmation that I am doing Your will being used by You!
Grant me discernment today to know when the opposition comes from You versus coming from the world. As You mold and tenderize my heart reveal to me when my flesh is showing up and I am trying to advance my own agenda and when I am walking in step with Your Spirit advancing Your Kingdom. I know that many times the difference and separation may be imperceptible because even my good is tainted with my sinful finger prints. Yet, You know the intentions of my heart. You know the purity or lack thereof of my motivations. Enable me to press on through opposition when I am aligned with You and to repent and retreat when I am not. My only aim is to serve You and please You. Thank You for not letting me get too far astray when I am not. Amen.