Introduction: God’s will is for us to actually enter into His rest and be refreshed at the same time. This is why we are told in Isa.28:9-12 among other things that this is what God would want us to have but that the people could not because of some of the enemies of rest we are going to be looking at today. Let us also understand that this list is not exhaustive. In our individual lives, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to identify specific causes of unrest within us which will of necessity rob us of our refreshing and deal with them with the help of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. The following are some obvious enemies that if we allow in our lives would rob us of our desired rest and refreshing.
Fear: This is the opposite of faith. Just as God requires faith to work in our lives, the devil requires fear to work in our lives. We are therefore the ones who would cast the vote as to who wins in our lives. If we embrace faith, then God can move in and give us victory. See 1John 5:4 and Heb.11:6; 1-2. Also, in several incidents when people came to Jesus for miracles, they were said to receive their miracles according to their faith. Two classical examples in the gospels are the stories of the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5 and the Centurion who came to intercede for his servant in Matthew 8.
On the other hand, fear empowers the devil to abort the plan of God from materializing in a person’s life if that is what they choose to embrace. This truth was demonstrated by the failure of the Children of Israel to enter the Promised Land. In most of their journeys before they incurred the curse of God that stood them still for forty years, they complained in fear every time they faced any kind of adversity. Their chief fear was fear of death and the death of their children. You will find their account in the book of exodus 14. They kept asking Moses if there were no graves in Egypt that he brought them to die in the wilderness. After a while, God got fed up with them and allowed them to get what they feared because fear usually attracts to its victim what is feared.
Doubt and unbelief: Doubting the word that God speaks to us is a very big problem because it is synonymous with calling God who cannot tell lies a liar [Titus1:2]. The word of God tells us that God’s word is truth [John 17:17]. This is what prompted Apostle Paul to say in Romans 3:4 that let God be true and every man a liar. The consequences of embracing doubt and unbelief as far as life generally is concerned are devastating. In the case of the children of Israel, they were robbed of their promise to enter the promised land. In the book of 2Kings.7:1-2 & 16-20, we see how a man was trampled to death for expressing doubt and unbelief when Elisha spoke a promise of God to the king of his time. In 1Cor.10:5-6, Paul admonishes us not to walk after the same example of unbelief that the children of Israel walked in and were cut off as a result. Also, in Hebrews 4:1-4, we are told that God’s promise does not profit those who do not mix it with faith. So fight doubt and unbelief with constantly tuning your heart to the word of God so you can stay in faith [Rm.10:17, Jn.6:63; 10:27].
Wrong speaking, murmuring and complaining: In Numbers 13-14, we see the Incidence where the children of Israel by a majority vote lost their place as the majority opinion does not necessarily equate what is right. In fact, in that story, God referred to the minority opinion of Joshua and Caleb as demonstrating another spirit. As a result of their heroic stance, they made it to the Promised Land and were also recognized in the New Testament in God’s hall of faith fame in Hebrews 11. Apostle Paul saw them as the best example of faith to follow when he said in 2Cor.4:13 that they also had the same spirit of faith that enables them to believe and declare. When you are in unbelief (usually caused by fear), the first place it manifests is your language and it is usually laced with murmuring and complaining. This can result in self-destruction [Num.21:4-6; 1Cor.10:9-10]. Every time we are faced with discouragement, the best thing we can do to help ourselves is to go back to the last thing we heard from God and all the other things He has promised us and also recall how some of them have come to pass and trust Him. Never give in to discouragement because if you do, you will say things that could tempt Christ and that would be very devastating. The story in Numbers 21 illustrates how we could tempt the Lord.
Sin: Sin simply means disobedience to God’s word. This is by far the root of all our challenges in the faith. Sin brought about the fall of man in the first place and after we are restored to God, the old sin nature is always working against us to bring us back to captivity. If it does succeed, it will reflect in unbelief and doubt. Sin happens when we stop listening to God and start listening to the devil. See Gen.3 where Eve got distracted by the voice of the devil. It does not matter who the devil speaks through, you should always be able to tell the voice of God different from that of the devil and ensure you follow God’s voice. We are without excuse because Jesus said in John 10:27 that His sheep hears His voice and that they would not follow the voice of the stranger. So if you sin, it is because you made the choice. Every believer in Christ is truly free to choose. See Deu.30:19, Jos.24:15, Rom.10:6-11.
Wrong association: This is one of the worst enemies of rest and refreshing. In fact the bible reveals the secret of success to us through the Psalmist in Ps.1 where He points out that anyone who associates with the ungodly and people who scorn the word of God are doomed to fail. Prov.13:20 puts it more strongly when it discloses to us that a companion of fools shall be destroyed. This is why getting married to a fool is a big deal because it is a sure way to doom one’s self to destruction. A fool is one who denies God and His word. See Ps.14:1 and Matthew 7:24-27. Foolishness is mostly seen in the actions we take based on a wrong belief system; a system that kicks against God’s word.
Evil Reports: Every report you receive that conflict with God’s word is an evil report. An evil report only becomes evil in your life when you act on it because you believe it otherwise; it is merely an evil report. So an evil report need not become your report. For instance, if the Doctor tells you that you are going to die before your time because of a sickness; that is an evil report. The solution to this is to seek God for His good report and use it to change the death sentence to life. Remember, we can choose life. See Deu.30:19. The result of believing an evil report is that you will give it voice and when you do, God would be committed to bring what you say to pass [Num.14:28, Mk.11:23]. So seek what God says and give it your voice and that is what you will have.
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