the-sword-of-the-spirit

When we are not grateful for what we have; when we compare ourselves with others and when we focus too much on our problems, we have the wrong perception that God is partial, and unfair to us. This perception of God is simply the devil blackmailing God to us; making us question and doubt His love for us, even when He shows otherwise.


Recently, I posted a short message on Instagram to encourage some people out there who might be going through tough times. The world generally is tough. People are going through different degrees of challenges. The economic recession we are experiencing in Nigeria has worsened people’s problems. I decided to share a message of comfort assuring them of God’s love even in the midst of their challenges.

While I received a few responses saying how much the message shared had encouraged them, I also got a direct message (DM) saying: “From your recent post, even as making God my friend, He does not seem fair to me. I think this God you always talk about is partial”.

From the tone of the message you would know that the sender is actually a friend, whom I have had conversations with around the subject of the love of God a few years back. I was amazed and taken aback that she could still be holding such a view of God. I know she’s still working on her relationship with God like everyone of us, yet her response indicated that she’s yet to be assured of the love of God. I responded to her by simply saying God is not partial, and promised to respond in detail through this piece, which I hope would reach others out there who might have the same view of God.

A number of things immediately ran through my mind after reading her direct message, most of which were questions. After all these years, how could she still be in doubt of God’s love for her? What has my friend been learning about God and her faith all these years? Is love not supposed to be the basis of our relationship with Him? As these thoughts were flowing through my mind, it occurred to me that the devil might have just succeeded in blackmailing God to my friend. This might sound strange but it does happen when we allow it as believers.

How the Devil Blackmails God To Us

The devil blackmails God to us by feeding our mind with wrong thoughts about our persons and God. These thoughts are usually the opposite of who we are and what God’s thoughts toward us as His children are. One of the ways the devil achieves this is by simply putting all our protracted challenges in front of us and reminding us of how many times we had prayed to God about them without any respite. As these thoughts become deep rooted in our hearts, we started complaining and grumbling against God rather than have a conversation with Him about the issues.

As this continues, we become excessively focused on the problems, and by doing that we make them the centre of our lives rather than God. It is at this point that despair, anxiety, fear, worry, etc. set in, which do not resolve the problems, but instead cripple us in the process. In some instances, they degenerate and have health implications, such as hypertension. This could also lead to desperation, which could push us into making costly mistakes.

The devil also blackmails God to us when we compare ourselves with others; particularly our friends that we think have lesser or no challenges at all. Somehow we think those we compare ourselves with in this sense are having it easier in life. I used to be here many years ago myself. I used to accuse God of being unfair to me in my early years as a believer, just because I thought some of my friends were having it easier in life. This continued until I got a sharp and very strong rebuke from God. This is what the Bible has to say about that:

foraminifera

“Not that we [have the audacity to] venture to class or [even to] compare ourselves with some who exalt and furnish testimonials for themselves! However, when they measure themselves with themselves and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding and behave unwisely” – 2 Corinthians 10:12 (AMP).

Just as my friend said in her message, some of us also have the wrong perception that God is partial, and therefore loves some people more than He loves us. If you look at it from natural senses, it could appear as if God loves some people more than others truly. That is not the case. As we are different and unique as individuals, that is how God loves every one of us uniquely. We are not the same before God; we are different and unique. That is why the Bible refers to us as living stones with which He is building Himself a spiritual habitation (1 Peter 2:5). No two unshaped stones are the same. They come in different shapes and sizes and can fit together to build a physical structure. That is how we are before God.

As we are different and unique, that is how God’s purpose and plans are for our lives. This is what makes our individual processes in life different and unique. Some have privileged background, while others do not. Some are tall, others are short. Some are born Caucasians, some Asians, some blacks, etc. These differences do not matter to God. What is important is the purpose He created us to accomplish for Him in the earth. One thing we must realise is that because God loves us uniquely, and has given us unique purposes to fulfill for Him, our processes in life have to be different and unique to us as individuals. These processes could be similar, but they are never the same thing.

The devil also succeeds in blackmailing God to us when we are not grateful for what we have. When we focus our attention excessively on the things we do not have or things that are going wrong in our lives, we find it difficult to see the good things that we have going for us. And when we do not see anything good about ourselves, we find it difficult to be grateful to God. There will always be someone who is richer, more beautiful, more intelligent, and more successful than we are in the natural sense. In the same vein, you are richer, more beautiful, more intelligent, and more successful than some persons out there. Moreover, these natural interpretations and definitions do not matter to God. What is important to Him is what we do with our lives viz-a-viz His plans for us.

When we are not grateful for what we have; when we compare ourselves with others and when we focus too much on our problems, we have the wrong perception that God is partial, and unfair to us. This perception of God is simply the devil blackmailing God to us; making us question and doubt His love for us, even when He shows otherwise. Apart from the assurances of His love for us in the scriptures, He demonstrates His love for us on a daily basis. While it is devil’s business to ruin our relationship with God, it is our responsibility and in our best interest to resist him.

This part of the article has focused more on helping us understand how the devil can blackmail God to us. The part to follow will address how we can break free from the devil’s blackmail. Do not give room to the devil to assault your mind. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7

Frederick Adetiba, a HR Practitioner, Researcher and good governance advocate, is Head of HR/Administration/Finance at Premium Times. He can be reached via fredor4c@gmail.com and @fredor4c on twitter.