Satan’s Schemes – God’s Power Unleashed
There’s only one power in the world great enough to help us rise above the difficult things we face: the power of God. Stormie Omartian
We are bombarded daily with words that others speak into and over our lives. Some may be negative words that say, “You can’t, you don’t have it in you, you won’t, you never will.” These words are declarations of failure and negatively impact our well-being. These are schemes Satan uses to impact our self-worth so that we are left paralysed, unable to move forward with our lives. Unable to move into the promises that God has for us.
This is how Moses felt when God called him to bring His people out of the dark bondage of slavery to the freedom He so longed for them to have. Moses, stripped of his royal status and wealth, had hit rock bottom and was tending another man’s flock when God miraculously appeared to him in the burning bush and gave Him the instruction to save his people from the oppression of the Egyptians. His first response to God was, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”(Exodus 3:11). Moses’ first response was to look to himself, to His human abilities. He did this at the very moment he witnessed God’s incredible power being unleashed through the burning bush. In that moment, Moses succumbed to Satan’s schemes that say, “You can’t, you don’t have it in you, you won’t, you never will.”
The Great I Am
God understood Moses’ fear and immediately assured him that He, “I Am”, Yahweh, would be with him (Exodus 3:12). “I Am”, the eternal creator of the universe, who holds the power to create and the power to deliver us from Satan’s schemes, would be with him. He understood that this was a promise from Yahweh and had existed long before his ancestors found themselves in Egypt. This removed all doubt from Moses' mind that the great I Am, would fulfil His promises. When Moses trusted God and not his own abilities, he saw His power unleashed, destroying Satan’s schemes. He saw the Red Sea part. He saw God’s miraculous provision in the desert. He saw water pouring out of a rock and many other miracles.
Yahweh, the God that Moses trusted, is the same God who is able to unleash His power over every dark situation in our lives caused by Satan’s schemes. Moses, who once doubted, believed God’s magnificent power before he saw it made manifest in the natural. The same power that Moses witnessed is available to us. Let’s believe God to unleash His awesome power as we pray for our impossible situations. For the negative thought patterns that have left us paralysed, unable to move forward. For our negative self-image. God can turn the negative thoughts that swirl around in our minds into His words over us - “I, Yahweh, am the great I Am. Nothing is too hard for Me.”
‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. Jeremiah 32:17
Reflection
Have the negative words that Satan has planted in your mind caused you to doubt that God is able to unleash His power over your life so that you can move forward into the promises He has for you? Will you take God at His word when He says, “Nothing is too hard for me?”
Prayer
Dear Lord, I give You the negative thoughts that are impacting my mind. Deliver me from Satan’s schemes that are preventing me from moving forward with my life. Help me to believe that You are able to unleash Your power over my situation and break through the doubt in my mind. Help me to believe that nothing is too difficult for You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
