Genesis 50:20

It's been almost a month since I have blogged and it has been quite a month. The more steps we take forward it seems that we have been taking steps backward just as fast or faster. You know that when I first got to my new job I could see quickly how the enemy had created a dysfunctional system. We have made so much progress, and now that we have made progress, the past few weeks, as my boss tells me, "we done made the devil mad." People have been sick, I've had my lower back go out, frustrations are high, it's just nuts.

But I wrote this to my staff this morning. I'm not sure why I am blogging it -- usually when I feel confined to blog something it is because one of you needs to read it....

I'll have to let you translate it into your own situation -- your work, your family, your personal life.... I was going to edit it all so it made sense to the whole world but I'm out of time.

Genesis 50:20 is most likely not a verse you can quote without looking it up. The context is when Joseph’s brothers come back to him years after trying to kill him because there is a famine and they need food. He says:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

On January 11 I told you that this place had been in the midst of spiritual warfare for a long time and that we were not going to let the devil win. I had no idea just how many ways he was going to keep pressuring us or how hard he was going to try. For the first three months we had setbacks as we were making progress as a group, but in the past month we have seen big successes as a group. But now it seems that the last two or three weeks there have been personal attacks: Family and personal issues. Interpersonal challenges. Physical issues and illnesses from the Sr. Leadership team to the houseparents. People in pain, unable to move, throwing up, on medication, unable to breath….

Every time we thought we were making progress something it seems like something held us back. But we we kept pushing forward. So many good things are happening. Do you think that this is the time that the enemy is going to back off? Of course not. He’s amping things up. And the poor guy is still losing.

Last night I was reminded me of the verse above and of the fact that we are involved in spiritual warfare. And I realized that something different this time around. You are not giving up. I am not giving up. We as a team have decided not to let him win.

There have been many times in the past three months that so many of you had good reason to walk away from these jobs. You experienced betrayal, you experienced frustration, but you are HERE….. we are all here… and this time we are NOT going to back down. When I said it on January 11th, I meant it: We are going to be victorious because God wants that — for the saving of many lives!

Hang in there with me. Whatever the enemy intends to do to harm us, God is intending for good to accomplish what is now being done — the saving of many lives.

The words below come from Revelation 12:11 (the end of the book folks — we win!) “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony,”

We will overcome by the blood of the lamb (Christ’s death is His part, and the most important part) — and the word of our testimony. We have a part too…. we overcome by sharing our testimony of what God is doing in our lives.

I hope this song resonates in your hearts and minds all day long. Read the lyrics. Sing it. Let it become part of who you are. Because we are going to overcome. I can feel it….