Dealing With Difficulty

by Chip Brogden

"Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us" (I Thessalonians 2:18).

We ought to be able to tell the difference between the Lord preventing us and the devil hindering us. Some Christians throw everything together and treat it as all the same. They reason that if God wants them to be somewhere then He will work everything out in their favor. They think if it is God's will then it will just automatically happen without any trouble at all. Scripture and the experience of countless saints prove otherwise.

We should not expect things to always go as planned, even when we are indeed following the will of God, and especially when we are trying to do what we feel led to do. Sometimes it seems as if everything is rising up against us. Cars break down, people get sick, misunderstandings arise, businesses fail, things happen. We do not want to give the devil any glory and attribute everything to him. But we do want to discern the true operation of the enemy so we may dispose of him. We must exercise discernment and wisdom to know the difference between the hand of the Lord, the work of the enemy, and the natural environment. Otherwise we will suffer unnecessarily.

Taken from The School of Christ.