What did you first envision when you saw the word opposition in the chapter title? Did you imagine external resistance to your efforts or your own internal resistance to God’s leading? Which do you think would be the greater “grind”?
By opposition, I don’t refer to external resistance from others but to internal resistance, to our own opposition to the things of God. In truth, our encounters with external forces—with people and circumstances that frustrate our efforts—are not likely to destroy us. What I have in mind is how we personally resist God’s leading, His reproofs, His will, His wisdom. Some are so given to internal opposition that they regularly fail to learn the lessons the Spirit of Truth attempts to teach. While others glean God’s message and follow His principles, many spurn His ways.
All of us, at one time or another, become guilty of internal opposition. We must then ask ourselves two important questions:
How often do we resist God’s working within us?
Does our resistance threaten to become habitual?
These are crucial questions, and your answers will determine how your future will unfold in the realm of time and space as well as in eternity beyond death. You see, God is in the business of redeeming and transforming people. While the Bible affirms that He will not fail to accomplish what He determines to do, the Bible also appeals to the will of each individual, calling each of us to heed the voice of wisdom, to repent of our rebellion, to seek God’s direction, and to submit to His leading.
Read: Are You Willing to Die for the Truth? – Love Worth Finding – April 16
From Living the Proverbs by Charles R. Swindoll, copyright © 2012. Reprinted by permission of Worthy Inspired., an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
