Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

Attacks

I pulled this quote off my brother Jeff's blog. It's from Chesty Puller, one of the most decorated war heroes in our country's history.

During the Korean War (one of his many combat assignments), Puller said, "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things."

I've felt that way in certain seasons of my life. There have been times where it seemed that the attacks were so many and so intense that I felt completely surrounded. It seemed as if everybody wanted to take me down.

But when I look back on these times, they usually preceded a time of incredible blessing. Satan is a smart dude and he knows when something big is coming down the pike. He'll often try to derail it by convincing you to give up before it happens. If you give up before you realize the blessing of God, then Satan is thrilled.

I've seen so many people who are ready to give their life to Christ and then they're nailed with an attack in their lives.

I've talked with people who are seemingly still wet from the water of baptism and something in their life falls apart.

I've known guys with incredible talent and potential who left the ministry because of intense criticism.

I've seen churches retreat from their mission and run back to the safe and secure "we've always done it this way" approach because the mission is just too hard.

Sometimes when it seems that we're being bombarded on all sides, it's because God is getting ready to unleash something big in our lives. Maybe the only key to seeing that blessing come to fruition is perseverance. Just hanging on a little bit longer.

When we're feeling attacked from all sides, it's important to remember that God is powerful and that he is present. That's why I love these verses from the Bible.

God's army was invisible, but it was present nonetheless. And that same God has promised his powerful presence with us.

Are you getting hit? Hang in there. Attacks seem never ending? Don't give up. God may be positioning his invisible army in preparation to release something unbelievable in your life. But if you quit, you may never see what it could have been.