Handling Your Enemies
"The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways." Deuteronomy 28:7
That's good news. As much as we hate to think that we may have enemies...we do. Enemies are a fact of life. Even Jesus had enemies. There were those who hated Him and wanted to kill Him. He said that we would be hated for His Name's sake. He warned us that if they hated Him, they would hate us also. "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." (Matthew 10:22) "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." (John 15:118,19) You'll have enemies and be hated by some people just because you serve the Lord. (Not everyone is thrilled that you are a Christian.)
So, how am I suppose to respond to the fact that there is someone out there who hates me because I have made a stand for Christ? What do we do about these enemies? We let God deal with them. Love them, pray for them, but don't be preoccupied with them. We don't see Jesus exhausting His energies on His enemies. Put them in the hands of the Lord and let Him do whatever needs to be done...He does a much better job of it than you can, anyway. You don't have to fear those who get up in your face and boldly come out against you. God will cause them to be defeated before your face. God will deal with them in such a way, that when He finishes, they won't know which way to run. "They shall flee before you seven ways."
Let me give you a word of encouragement, instruction, and warning here. We will have enemies simply because we choose to serve the Lord. Pray for your enemies, love them, and do good to them whenever possible. Don't be preoccupied with dealing with them, let the Lord deal with them; let Him fight your battles for you. You just go ahead and keep serving the Lord and stay focused on Him.
Now, a word of caution; when the Lord does deal with your enemies and defeats them before you...don't rejoice over your enemy's downfall. It's all right to rejoice in the fact that God has helped you and moved on your behalf, but don't rejoice over their destruction. "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and he turn away his wrath from him." (Proverbs 24:17,18) We need to keep the same attitude Jesus did..."Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Have a blessed day. Let God take care of your enemies.
Written by Lorraine Ezell
