What if I told you that your enemies are
priceless?
Life-changing
encounters, filled with difficulties, suffering, and enemies. A short story of
an outstanding leader called Nehemiah, which meets trouble time to carry out an
impressive vision regardless of the profound resistance. But, despite the
troubles and the extreme fight, Nehemiah a powerful and strong leader boosts
the hardship versus chances to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Heck bursts out; still, it takes an individual who is pushing and defying throughout times of frustration. Instead of doubt, worry or retribution, Nehemiah seized the issue to the Lord. A truthful tale of self-empowerment, leadership, and bold determination.
Will Nehemiah
achieve his aspirations or yield to the miseries of his enemies? Or will
he discover that discouragement times are emerging from God for a purpose?
Chapter 10
Slingshot Effect
“There is no doubt in my mind, that you can't live by what you see,
but rather by what you believe.”
What
if all we have said or written in this book don't work? What if, you do all
that has been said and still you find yourself in the same spot you have been
for years. Or perhaps, in the same problems without a final resolution. What if
you don't get the same results that Nehemiah did? What if in the midst of your turmoil, God is
nowhere to be found? You keep asking yourself, where is God when others are
attacking you. What if you persist until the end but still, God doesn't show
up. What if? Nothing happens. You have tried it all, but nothing happens.
Discouragement shows up instead of God. It seems, the more you do the farther
away you move from getting things resolved. You keep praying, but the push
isn't there anymore.
All
of what we have said in this book is true, but sometimes, reality plays a role
that discourages you from seeing things from a different perspective. What if
the discouragement is from God? You will not know until you do what you have to
do. By doing so, you will undoubtedly release God's power wrapped inside the
discouragement. All you need to do is just keep pushing forward.
Persist in prayer to manifest God's power that
will unwrap the gift that is inside the discouragement. It will enrich your
life in such troubled times. “What if,” is a doubtful statement that brings
uncertainty and discouragement, but it is also a declaration of possibilities
that in light of your faith has maximum potential. There is no doubt in my
mind, that you can't live by what you see, but rather by what you believe.
It's
your belief that will make the invisible visible and bring victory for you.
Just because it is not happening now, doesn't mean it will not happen. You have
to keep pushing and persisting until the “What if” becomes “I Know So”—a
positive result in your life.
Nehemiah
knew how to pray and act. He prayed to
the Lord and together with his prayer, God revealed a strategy, which would
trigger his faith to comply with the mandated task. Another example was Moses
when he was at the crossroads that many of us experience every day. Moses was
in front of the Red Sea with the people of Israel. He was being pursued by the
soldiers of the Pharaoh and facing his
disgruntled people who insisted that it would have been better for them to be
in Egypt than to die in the desert.
But
this kind of discouragement had a very positive outcome, which we all know.
Nonetheless, Moses sought the Lord's face to know what he should do. ”It only
gets worse before it gets better.” He was pursued by the soldiers of Pharaoh to
a place where Moses and his people had no way out. At least that’s what it
appeared to be? This left Moses to do what he had to do. Push forward because
there was no returning to Egypt. It was crunch time and quitting was not an
option. This is a perfect example of a slingshot effect in which Moses found
himself. I call it “the syndrome of the slingshot effect”
But
what is the slingshot effect?
Let
me explain what this means. When you are using a slingshot you pull back the
sling to create enough tension to reach the intended target. The further away
the intended target is, the more tension we need to apply to the sling. The aim here is to hit the TARGET. While we are pulling the sling more and more
toward the back to create the necessary tension, a paradoxical effect is also
happening. How? As we are pulling back the slingshot, we are also pulling away
from the target. The idea is to hit the target, and for that matter, you need
to pull away from it. Pulling away is necessary TO CREATE the tension to
reach the proposed goal with precision.
The slingshot effect also happens in our daily lives. As tension is created during
difficult times an illusion comes to
mind that we are fading away from our purpose. As the matter at hand
intensifies, it hinders our vision and ability to hit the target. Moreover, it
seems that we are further away from our prophetic purpose and away from
achieving our blessings. Or daily life issues create tension in our lives, but
it's that tension that brings the opportunity to make things possible. That
very same tension will help us to focus on our target, our godly TARGET in
life. In times like these, only a heart connected to God's beat will perceive
the vision with an anointing to be persistent.
Everything
seems to be failing, you're about to give up,
it seems that there is no purpose, there is no provision, it seems that no matter how hard you try
nothing is working in your favor, and what God once told you “the vision,” the
promise is not for you. Everything seems to be—but
it is merely that. Remember, we don't move by what we see in front of us, but
rather what we believe. And know SO!
If
you persevere and resist, if you're tenacious you will be able to perceive in
the Spirit that you are in the slingshot effect creating the tension to hit the
target, God's Purpose.
Instead
of seeing burned stones you can see a temple, a house, a great wall. God is
getting ready to embark on your prophetic destiny. But this promise is for
those who resist firmly and are persistent.
We
need to make a difference just like the woman with the excessive blood flow.
She pushed forward at all times, regardless of the situation and the
opposition. She drove herself with perseverance in the midst of the crowd.
People pushed her aside and placed her at a distance from Jesus. But she
desired and was willing to keep going forward. Her spirit was declaring “If I
only touch his outer robe, I will be healed.”
Then
a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him
and touched the [tassel] fringe of His outer robe; 21 for she had been saying
to herself, “If I only touch His outer robe, I will be healed.” 22 But Jesus
turning and seeing her said, “Take courage, daughter; your [personal trust and
confident] faith [in Me] has made you well.” And at once, the woman was
[completely] healed (Mathew 9:23)
Once
again, “If I only touch His outer robe.” It was a declaration of possibilities
with a divine guarantee that what she wanted would happen by persisting and
believing that everything is possible when you believe in God and His kingdom.
It is a declaration reassuring that her sickness could be healed with a touch
of Jesus’ robe.
Let
us not give up. There is no room for quitting. Persist and resist until
something happens because God will show up. Quitting is not an option. Remember
God’s Purpose Demands Persistence. Keep pushing forward in Jesus’ name.
Nehemiah’s
odyssey lasted 52 days (Neh 16: 15) and the walls were completed.
Make
sure that you finish what you have started by persisting at all times.