Sometimes the Lord Sends an Adversary
Then, the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon. (l Kings 11:14)
I Kgs. 11:9-14; Deut. 28:47-50:Deut. 31:15-18; Isa. 54:11-17
What Is God Saying?
God gives us a choice. Solomon, wise beyond his time, allowed himself to fall into folly and stray far from God. Whenever we interrupt our walk with God, He may send an adversary to bring us back.
How Does This Apply To Us?
When we recognize that all of God's providence filters through love, we know how to accept and face the adversary He sends. God wants us to stay close to Him and faithful to Him. We should remember that even our adversaries are under the control of God. They can do us no harm. They can only make us pause to think. They can only force us to remember that God has a better plan in which, over all enemies and against all opposition, we will be and even now are "more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Rom. 8:37). We are fortified as we pray with the knowledge that "no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper" (Isa. 54:17).
Pray With Me
Father, I am glad to own You as the Lord of my actions. You are also God over all the obstacles that seem to block that way. You can either remove the adversary or raise them up for my good, for Your good reasons. You can either put them out of the way or in the way. In love that cares so much and according to the wisdom that knows all about me and all that is about me, You can give me freedom or friction, rest or wrestling, leisure or labor. Help me to trust all the more in Your wise providence because I see it filtered through Your love. When You raise the adversary, may I recognize and submit to this as all-seeing love and not as blind wrath.
You will make the rough places smooth and the crooked paths straight. I do not ask for steep and thorny ways, but when in Your wisdom I must be guided back to Your high purpose by pressures, may I recognize Your Lordship even over my adversaries. When I find myself amid events I can scarcely understand, may I acknowledge Your Lordship even over my adversaries. When I am called upon to bear painful crosses I would never have chosen, may I recognize Your Lordship even over my adversaries.
Because You save me for all eternity and have a perfect plan for my life, adversaries can do me no harm. They can only turn me to the higher good that You have ordained. I am a part of Your wholeness in which there can be neither mistake nor imperfection, neither fault nor flaw, neither blame nor blemish.
In the name of Him who has conquered my greatest adversary through His greatest victory, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Moving On In The Life Of Prayer
In prayer, God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. They may be to bring us back to God, but they are powerless to do any harm if our trust is in the wisdom, the providence, and the invincible power of God. He is almighty and all-loving. The power of prayer calms us in the presence of every adversity and gives us confidence that all our adversaries bring us closer to God and His ideal for our lives. Through all circumstances and despite all circumstances, prayer gives us quiet assurance that Christ is still on the throne.
