1 Corinthians 16:9 – For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
Genesis 26:3-6,12-14
3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. 6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold : and the LORD blessed him. 13 And the man waxed great , and went forward , and grew until he became very great : 14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
Today we will examine the challenges of greatness. God wants us to be great but the devil wants us to be nothing. If the devil finds that he cannot stop you from being great, when you become great he sets up attack against you to frustrate you and attempt to pull you down. But he will not succeed in Jesus name. You are great and will remain great. For that reason it is important to know the weapons that the uses to derail us and undermine our greatness. We will use the case of the Isaac in Genesis 26 for this study. I suggest you read the whole chapter and understand it. Friend, I want you to know that for every new level there is a new devil. The bible calls us overcomers. You never become or remain an overcomer unless you overcome and keep overcoming. I see you overcome the challenges of greatness in Jesus name. They are as follow:
Envy -Genesis. 26:14-16 – As Isaac began to become great his friend Abimelech, the king of Gerar who previously protected him and his wife from being touched by the Philistines became envious and demanded that he left the area within a short notice. Some of your ‘friends’ cannot imagine you being great so they cannot receive you in your new place of promotion. The good is always the enemy of the best. Be sure of this your greatness will upset some people that you thought should understand and rejoice with you. They have always seen you on a particular level and have never imagined you as a candidate for a position greater than theirs. That is why you should not limit yourself to people’s perception and dreams for you. Dream God size dreams. The way to deal with this is to move on; you will pick them up on a rebound.
Discomfort – Genesis 26:17-18 – There would be temporary discomfort from moving away from disloyal and envious friends. But I want you to know that every setback is a set up for a comeback. The way to overcome this challenge is to be consistently persistent and never lose your focus. Broken focus equals failure so don’t lose your focus. New friends and compatriots will come.
Contention and strife – Genesis. 26:18-20 – The bible says where strife is, there is all manner of evil works. Strife is a tool of multiplication of evil in any place. It is meant to unsettle you and steal your peace. Avoid strife like a plague because it is a plague. The bible says a man of God must not strife. Strife is a robber. Don’t let it steal your greatness. Do everything in your power to live at peace with everyone.
Opposition and accusation Genesis. 26:21 – This is an attack on your good name so as to destroy your support system. Remember that on one occasion after Jesus cast out devil from a man, the opposition said he did it using the power of the prince of demons. The devil will try to discredit you and what you stand for. Never make the mistake of fighting the persons being used by the devil, deal with the demonic force behind it. Remember, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Please be aware that every new ground you break upsets the devil and he launches an attack by using people. But never relent because you are destined for ultimate greatness. People are not your enemy, the devil is so don’t fight people. Deal with the root cause, the devil.
Room and enlargement Genesis 26; 22 – if you handle envious people, discomfort, strife and accusation well, you will enter into a large place. If you never throw in the towel and keep your vision alive, you will end up a star. When you pass the test and overcome these obstacles you become a principality and point of reference.
Worship – Genesis. 26:23-25 – Some people’s bad times affect their commitment to God and for some it is good times that affect their dedication to God. It is said that many people overcome challenges of adversity but few overcome the challenges of success. Never forget where your blessing comes from and who your source is. God is our source and we must be addicted to worshiping Him. When people have victory or have a series of battles, they tend to let go of themselves and lose their commitment to God but that is when they really need to show gratitude and stick with God.
Forgiveness and reconciliation Genesis 26:26-31 – The people that laughed at you and rejected you are coming back to laugh with you. When they come back, never laugh at them and never reject their sincere apology. Give them another opportunity to build trust again. Forgive them, reconcile with them and let them build the trust that they have broken. Jesus gave Peter another chance after He denied him. He asks him a heart to heart question and then he gave another chance. It takes a bigger person to forgive and reconcile.
Larger room – Genesis. 26:32-33 – When you forgive others their trespasses, God will recompense you for all your losses and then you enter into the fullness of greatness that God has proposed for you.
Greatness is your birth right but its activation is by your choice. Over to you.
For further Study
Genesis 26, Matthew 3:16 – 4:1
Personal declaration for the day
I will pass the test of greatness in Jesus name.
Questions for you to reflect on
- Name some of the things that are challenging your greatness?
- How have you been dealing with them?
- What are the results?
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