Do Not Let Evil Hurt Me

Well, it’s Friday but there is so much more to share about this Jabez prayer thing than this week allowed.  Today we will focus on “Do not let evil hurt me.”

Once again look at these two crucial verses:

I Chronicles 4:9-10

^9-10 Jabez was a better man than his brothers, a man of honor. His mother had named him Jabez (Oh, the pain!), saying, “A painful birth! I bore him in great pain!” Jabez prayed to the God of Israel: “Bless me, O bless me! Give me land, large tracts of land. And provide your personal protection—do not let evil hurt me.” God gave him what he asked.

Reviewing Past Posts From This Week

First, in reviewing we know that God is a God of Blessing even to ordinary people like you and me. Though this is all interesting, it does seem selfish to pray, “God, bless me.” What God really wants is for our desires to line up with His will. In all of this, do we dare God to bless us? When He does, He empowers us with His Holy Spirit and sets divine appointments for us. When we go through valleys God’s hand is at work through us because of our dependence upon Him.

With Blessing(s) comes a fight.  In expanding your territory, in expanding your influence, in impacting people on a larger scale, you are intruding on the enemy’s territory.  So we shouldn’t be so naive as to think there won’t be a fight, a battle.  Battles come in many versions, shapes, and sizes…and other people.  

Making an Impact Brings Resistance From the Enemy

Let me ask a silly question.  Do you want to have an impact and influence on others, on your family, in your job, in your business?  Do you want God to expand your boundaries in this sense?  Who doesn’t – that’s God’s nature that you are taking on. That’s exciting to see.  This is when the enemy takes notice.  Now the battle is on – don’t be surprised by this.

There is a business owner that I know pretty well who has a great testimony as to God’s Hand working through him and his wife. They have overcome great battles with their business, and have overcome with great success and growth.  He has shared his story AND I love his focus on the foundation and recognition of God.  With this comes battles. 

In the same way, I love seeing this in the Operations team that I am a part of.  I could tell you things about each one and their impact on other individuals and our system that you would be excited to hear about and to celebrate.  But with this, we should expect battles.  After all, we are impacting our part of the world for God Almighty – El Shaddai.

“Hey God, Look What I Did!”

Here’s the deal. With success comes battles when impacting the world for our Father.  One of the big temptations is to get caught up in our success and becoming numb to our dependence on God.  This is a weapon of the enemy.  Dare we not ever think, “Look at what I’ve done!”

A glimpse of one of Scott’s little side thoughts is the following:

Even in seeing the success of others, we allow little thoughts to come in as we make judgments about their success. And then we wonder ‘why them and not me.’  We think evil, not only “Why them and not me” but also:

• “What did they ever do to get there?”
• “That was luck or coincidence.”
• “I do better than them and I’m not blessed or recognized like that.” 

We Indeed are in a Battle

Am I the only one who has these kinds of thoughts?  Well, I hope so but I think not.  If we as Christians can question our brothers and sisters and God’s blessings in such a way like this, think about what the enemy is doing.  We are in a battle.

So we should pray, “don’t let evil hurt me.”  Or as Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  This is where we have to be equipped with weapons of warfare.  This is where we attack darkness with light. We attack darkness and the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s word and who we are in Him. With Praise and Worship, we put our focus on God and not the illusion of the enemy’s power.

God can keep us safe. God will keep us safe.  Like our business owner (mentioned above) and like my Operations team, our offense is keeping the focus on our amazing and powerful God!  His hand is literally at work in and through us in doing things we never imagined. This is what is beyond our own abilities.

Challenge for today – Today speak to God the truth of who He is and your thankfulness for Him. As Jabez prayed, pray for His power to not let evil hurt you.  Take a moment and pray through your battles. Pray through the lies the enemy tells you about yourself. Pray and speak the word of God over those things. So be it.

Bonus note:  Do not be offended by the attack of the enemy.  Our society is made up of ‘offended people’ who use that as a crutch from the enemy, to attack others.  Instead of being offended by others, take joy in the fact that the enemy sees you as a target. Pray for them because you are a reflection of the God Almighty – El Shaddai!