Paralyze Your Enemy

Posted by Joel Osteen on 6/26/2012

One time, I read about a small fish called the Moses sole. It's a little flounder that's found in the Red Sea. There are also large sharks in those waters that would typically eat these small fish; but back in the early 1970's, a group of researchers noticed something amazing about the little Moses sole. All the other fish in that category, same size and same weight, would be eaten by the sharks. But for some reason, these sharks would not eat the Moses sole. They found out that this little Moses sole has a very unique defense system. Any time it senses some kind of danger, it naturally secretes poisonous toxins from its glands. These toxins literally cause the shark's jaws to freeze. There was a picture of this little Moses sole inside a shark's mouth. The shark had obviously come in for the kill. All it had to do was bite down and there was dinner. The only problem was that the shark couldn't do it. God put something on this little fish to protect him, and as long as the shark was near that Moses Sole, his jaw was frozen. He would have to swim away for a few seconds before it would be released and go back to normal.

I believe that's a picture of what the scripture means when it says, "The favor of God will keep my enemies from defeating me." God has put something on you that will cause you to be victorious over your enemies. Who are your enemies? Scripture tells us that it isn't the people in our lives; we don't battle against flesh and blood, but against the forces of darkness in the spiritual realm. (See Ephesians 6:12). The way you release that protection and cause your enemy's jaw to "freeze up" is by submitting yourself to God. James 4:7 tells us, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." When you put God first place in your life, you are walking in His divine protection, wisdom, favor and grace. When you acknowledge Him as Lord, when you declare His goodness and thank Him for His favor, you are causing the jaws of your enemy to lock up! Every time you say, "Lord, thank You that Your gracious hand is upon me. I bless You and praise You for Your goodness and faithfulness," the enemy is paralyzed. However, if you go around talking about how big the problem is, how you're never going to make it, that does just the opposite. That acts like bait. That attracts the enemy. That will make it more difficult. In essence, it paralyzes you!

When you're in tough times, remember that little fish. If you get negative, worried or start complaining, you're going to attract more difficulty. But if you'll submit to God and declare His favor, it will release His power and keep those enemies from defeating you!
Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

Comments