A
dear African friend recently inboxed me on FaceBook to share his current
spiritual battle. He wanted advice on what to do. As I read his note, my heart was moved by his sincerity as
well as by the depth of his despair.
I have served as a mentor figure for this dear brother for the past
couple of years. He is one of the
most sincere, integrous, and pure-hearted people I know. He loves Jesus
deeply. Yet, the enemy has been
systematically undermining his spiritual confidence through one of his favorite
attacks—condemnation.
As
I thought about this note to me, I was reminded of the fact that this spiritual
weapon is not exclusively an African issue. I Peter 5:9 reminds us that we need to resist the enemy of
our souls because our brothers across the world are undergoing the same kind of
sufferings. I think at times
we think that the enemy of our souls is uniquely singling us out with our
particular struggle. This is one
of his favorite tactics to use against us: isolation and alienation. His lies are very persuasive
making us retreat to into our spiritual corners of shame.
The problem with a retreat
mentality is that we cut ourselves off from other believers—who represent the
Body of Christ. We fear their ridicule
if we share our struggles. We
suspect others are perfect and wouldn’t understand our battle. In so doing, we effectively eliminate
one of God’s primary ways of helping us in time of need: His hands and feet on
the earth.
As I read my friend’s note I felt a
stirring in my spirit to write. I
know that he is not the only believer being fed this lie from the darkness.
Many of my friends across East Africa and America are experiencing the same
kind of onslaught. They are being
condemned with fury to keep them from reaching their destiny in Christ. It’s a con concocted by the
master conman, satan. A con
can be defined as a trick to deceive someone. In this case, the trick is condemnation to stop believers
dead in their tracks.
In my life I have battled this
trick many times. It is one that
the master deceiver has used on me with great effect. When I first moved to
Central Africa I would be invited to speak in places such as Rumonge, Nyanza
Lac, Ruziba, Gatumba, Kinanira, etc… Yes, they are real places. The primary weapon the enemy used
against me was condemnation. I remember one day in particular, a Sunday
morning. I am driving towards Kigwena on a pot-holed road battling the most
intense feelings of condemnation I’ve ever felt. The script playing out in my head is all too familiar. “Who
do you think you are? I know your thoughts. You aren’t worthy to be a missionary. You’re the biggest
sinner on the planet. You call
yourself a Christian? God will
never use you. Who would listen to
you? You big hypocrite.”
I changed my whole message in the
two-hour car ride and shared a word on how to overcome condemnation. Many people’s lives were impacted that
day and several responded to the invitation to make Christ their Lord and
Savior. There’s something very
powerful about hope to conquer this lie. This week I would like to talk about how to overcome
the enemy’s con called condemnation.
Yes it is possible. No, you
are not alone in this battle.
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