Day 261
Isaiah 36:15 NIV
"Do not let Hezekiah pursuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, "The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."
The king of Assyria planned an attack on the Israelites and offered the citizens an opportunity to make an agreement with him to avoid a war. He suggested they ignore their king and follow him. He tried to frighten them with stories of his previous conquests. His efforts failed. The end of the story showed the king of Assyria losing and God's people winning.
It is so important that we be aware of the devil's tactics. Whenever we are encouraged to trust God, there is a possibility that the enemy will use our imaginations or someone else to try to frighten us. When we believe God is who He said He is and will do what he said He will do, opportunities to change our minds will present themselves. How should we respond? Our attitudes should be that we are personally offended that someone would question the integrity or greatness of our God. As long as we are walking in line with God's Word and not walking foolishly or presumptuously, we must maintain our ground and choose to believe God above all else.
One time Jesus was on His way to a man's house to pray for his daughter, who was dying. Someone interrupted them and suggested they give up and let Jesus go about His business, because the little girl was already dead and nothing could be done to bring her back. However, Jesus had already said he would come and heal her. He encouraged the man to continue believing what he originally believed, and they continued toward the house. When they arrived, Jesus went in where the child was and raised her from the dead.
The main point was Jesus had already said he would heal her, and a less important person was contradicting the Word of the Lord. When we know we have heard from God either through His Word, in our hearts or through his servant, we must judge the qualifications of the person making the contradictory statement. Since that person would be less important and less credible, their words should never cause us to change our minds. How sad it would be for us to give up and lose because of a lie. The Bible said we should let God be true and everyone else a liar.
I will not insult God today by allowing someone to make me change my mind about His Word. I will leave Him alone be true. I choose to keep believing God.