Think of a time when you had to fight aggressively for something you believed in, felt strongly about and how you stood your ground. Recently I read a story about an old donkey that fell into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway and it wasn’t worth to retrieve the donkey. He grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, he quietened down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and toted off!
Similarly, even in our spiritual life, when we are on God’s mission, we might come across people who try to intimidate us to back off from the task that we have our minds set on. Nehemiah’s call and mission was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. When the enemies heard about it, they attacked him with words trying to intimidate him so that he would give up the task of rebuilding the walls but every time he heard a negative word from them, Nehemiah turned towards God and sought His grace and strength (Nehemiah 4:4, Nehemiah 6:9). And he headed towards the completion of the wall. There were even prophets who came to him to make him feel timid before his enemies but did not give in to any of it rather turned to God in prayer (Nehemiah 6:14).
When the enemy comes in like a flood, we are not supposed to stop what we are called to do and flee. Instead, be on guard in all aspects and be determined to finish the task that we have been assigned to do from heaven. Never ever give up! The enemy is going to use people and circumstances to intimidate and discourage us from carrying God’s power in our life. Remember, the Spirit of God that is on us to accomplish His task is not of fear but of love, power and of sound mind.
It is the attitude of the enemy to pull you down but our attitude should be not to let it affect us. A dear friend recently described this in a beautiful way- “You are not called to feed on leaves (problems) and remain like a caterpillar but undergo transformation to fly like a butterfly giving joy to all those who see it”.
When God calls and commissions us for His work, He also provides the grace we need to accomplish His task. Only thing is that we need to trust Him and seek Him in every step. Let us move ahead this year trampling down every power of intimidation.