Do you face opposition? Do you know who it is who is opposing you? Do you know why you are being opposed? Are you resisting? Do you know who or what you are resisting? Do you understand the opposition and resisting?
We face opposition in more forms than we can count. There is physical opposition, verbal opposition, thought opposition, cultural opposition, and social opposition. We resist using the same forms in which we face opposition.
With all the opposition and resistance going on, is it any wonder we see so much frustration, disgruntlement, and hatred in our world? Opposing forces in constant combat. It seems we are continually in a struggle. But where does this struggle come from? What is going on behind the scenes that causes this struggle?
Ultimately, the battle is a continual struggle between good and evil. Unfortunately, our world has distorted the perspective of good and evil. It has devolved into each person developing their own definition of good and evil. When this happens, it is no wonder we see people opposing one another with righteous indignation, fully believing they are in the right.
There is only one who can rightly define good—God. In today’s passage, we see that God opposes the proud. We often believe being proud of our country, our school, our team, or our company is good. When we are filled with pride, we are being opposed by God and we are in opposition to Him. And…we wonder why we suffer. There are consequences for opposing God.
On the other hand, we see we are to resist the devil. You see, the devil is the one who entices us to be proud. He entices us to oppose God. For what reason? Simple…apostasy. That’s a big word. It means to depart from or desert your religion or principles.
As people who claim to belong to God, who follow Jesus Christ, pride becomes apostasy. We are called to be different, to be humble. We see that God is on the side of the humble. What does being humble require? It requires us to submit to God’s will, His instruction, His guidance. It requires us to stop looking down on others. It requires us to stop being selfish. God desires us to be humble and allow Him to reward us.
I pray we all submit to God. I pray we resist the temptations of the devil. I pray each one of us will humble ourselves before God. Trust God to provide your reward. Resist the devil’s temptations. Humble yourself before God. Submit to God.
James 4:6-7 That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Marty Pressey 