For he spoke, and it came to be.
Psalm 33:9 MSG
he spoke and there it was,
in place the moment he said so.
The Story of Annie
I remember way back from my early ministry days with teenagers. I was involved in an outreach to lost teenagers – basically, backyard missionary work. It was called Youth for Christ/Campus Life and was focused on grades 6-12. I was a part of that ministry outreach for 19 years. To note, Billy Graham was the first full-time ministry person of Youth for Christ back in the beginning – 1944.
I bring that up to share a story. There are many great stories and memories from that time in my life when I was in the ministry of Youth for Christ. But one particular story is about a young lady. We will call her Annie. I met Annie along with her group of friends at school. During lunch, I would go into the cafeteria to introduce myself to students and invite them to our weekly Campus Life meetings.
God Cares About Your Everyday Life
In those meetings, we would discuss life topics that teenagers deal with in their life. Things like Love, Sex, Dating, Peer Pressure, Parents, Authority, and much more. We would do some fun games, and have great discussions on such topics, and then I would share how God was concerned about that part of their life and that He wanted to have a personal relationship with them.
There are so many great memories from those years. But let me go back to Annie. After meeting Annie and her friends in the cafeteria and seeing her at school events and ballgames, she started coming to our weekly Campus Life meetings and then started going on some of our adventure trips.
The Dark Side of the Story
The good news was that Annie eventually accepted Christ and started going to church. What a success story! But there was a dark side to the story prior to that.
He spoke, and it came to be.
Annie’s father
Annie’s father had a major influence on her life. And it wasn’t a positive one. You see, Annie was fragile and known to be suicidal. Or at least she was known to cry out for help, saying she wanted to take her life.
Annie’s father beat her down verbally, and often. He had told her over and over again since she was just a little sweet toddler that she was no good. He had even told her that she was so worthless he wondered why she didn’t just go kill herself. These are things most of us can’t imagine.
Do Not Play Into the Lies
Annie did not know what God said about her. All she knew was what her father said. And what others said about her. Those outside of her group of friends reinforced her father’s words. Words from the enemy.
We all see this played out at various times in the lives of those in which we cross paths. You may be reading this with great pain as maybe it was you that lived through such a situation.
He Spoke, and It Came To Be
We don’t have a hard time believing that situations like this happen. But many have a hard time believing that God spoke, and it came to be. The world, the stars, the universe, and you and me! That the very word of God created everything that exists.
Genesis 1:26 amp
Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority…
Complete Authority – Two Things:
- We were created to be like God
- And we were given complete authority
There is a lost and hurting world like Annie’s prior days. The enemy has been killing, stealing, and destroying by altering the truth about who they are in Christ (John 10:10a). And we have a lost and hurting world that is waiting for us. They are waiting for me, and waiting for you, to take the authority over the enemy and his lies. And this authority is for all areas of our life – complete authority.
Challenge of the Week
Life is called life because it is about living. Take your place over the enemy. Yes, take the truth of His word (God’s word), over the words of others that try to beat you down. Take authority of the words that come to kill, steal and destroy your life, that try to destroy who you are in Christ. Know who you are in Christ and rise up this week over the enemy – take authority. So be it.
