In Acts Chapter 14, Paul tells the disciples, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kindgom of God." The Greek word translated "hardships" means to break, crush, compress, squeeze. It signifies distress, pressure, a burden upon the spirit. "Paul included this kind of honest teaching in every town where a church had sprung up. The believers in these churches had to keep in mind always that in the kigdom of God, hardship and persecution are par for the course."
I know from experience when God is telling me to do something or say something that I might met opposition. On occasion I am not met with opposition, but in most I am. I have many examples, but I will start with the most simple one. I don't know if you remember the post where I typed up what God had me to say at my grandmothers funeral (archived March - My Grandmother). For the two weeks prior to this I knew that I was speaking at her funeral because she had asked this of me after speaking at my grandfathers. So for the two weeks prior to, knowing she was not doing well, I began praying non-stop about what God wanted said to her family and friends. As God was giving me the words, I remember fighting him saying "I can not say this, this is for Doug I can not say this."
Well the day of came, I was still fighting God on the words he had given me. On the way to the funeral home I was praying again. I asked God to confirm through a pastor when I got there. I asked the pastor, "am I to give only the good or the whole thing." The immediate answer was the whole thing. Scared, I went to the bathroom, sitting in a chair I was crying and pleading with God, "I can not do this, I can't say this, you have to do this through me, I don't have the strength. I am nothing, you have to do this I can not." I said this over and over again for a several minutes.
When the time came, a few minutes later, I was called to the front. Standing at the podium, I began to speak, but nothing would come out, my throat was paralyzed. I began to agrue with God, "you put me here, you know I had to do this, why would you allow this now." The pastor was behind me and began to say "bless her father" over and over again. After what seemed like minutes, in reality it was probably 30 seconds, God removed the paralysis of my throat and allowed me to speak. Satan, the opposition, did not want me to speak because he know that God was planting a seed in Doug.
After the funeral, at the house, Doug came up to me and said, "I know you were talking to me," I told him I was sorry, and that I knew I was talking to him, but I had too. We talked about it for about 10-15 minutes, then we hugged, while we were hugging God spoke to him through me, all I remember saying was, "God needs you to know.........and Grandma and Grandpa loved you."
After this I was exhausted, but could not sleep because I was mad at God because he did not allow me to remember what I had spoke to Doug. The Hubby said, "it was not for you or you would remember." God was speaking through him to calm me. I say all this to give you one of many examples in my life where God has asked to use me and I say yes, and I am met with opposition (Satan). Being a servant is scary and difficult, but God gets so much glory from it. A few days after the funeral a man told my father, that listening to me speak at grandma's funeral was the closest he had been to God that week. Wow, what glory to God for his power and presence in our lives if we will submit to being his servant and depending on him and not ourselves. I find joy in serving because I know people are seeing God and God is growing me in my dependence on him.
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