An angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee
to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young
Child to destroy Him.” Matthew 2:13
Whenever God clearly
speaks to you and you obey His will, you can expect to face opposition.
Spiritual assaults and attacks by the ungodly are not always signs that you are
out of the will of God; they may even indicate that you are in the very center
of God’s will. Mary’s husband, Joseph, was a righteous man who feared God, yet
his obedience to God forced him to flee for his life to a foreign country.
Joseph’s hardship came, not because of his sin, but because of his obedience.
Although Joseph and Mary were forced to move to another country, they remained
in the center of God’s will.
Jesus warned His
disciples to expect persecution from the world as they obeyed the Father. He
reminded them that they would not face persecution alone, for Jesus, too, had
faced the hostility of the world and had been victorious (John 16:33).
Don’t become
discouraged when you face opposition. Opposition may indicate that you are
acting in obedience to God. Do not let opposition cause you to doubt God’s
will. Examine your heart. If you have done what you know He has asked you to
do, trust Him to see you through the antagonism that comes from those who are
not walking with Him. When they encountered persecution, the disciples did not
ask God to remove their opponents, but to give them boldness as they faced
opposition (Acts 4:24-31). God’s will for you may involve hardship, as it did
for His Son (John 15:20), but He loves you and will not allow you to face more
than you are able to handle.
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