FEAR IS A STRATEGY

• Day 1

• Fear File : Pharaoh

• Scripture: Exodus 1:8-12

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.

Exodus 1:8-12

In all the years I have read and studied this text I have never noticed what I did when I began to study for this series. For the first time I realised that the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites because they were afraid of them. They were afraid of what they might become. 

They oppressed them and put them to hard labour because they were afraid. The plan, I believe, was to break their spirits and crush any possibility of these Israelites rising up against them. It wasn’t that they had caused any trouble yet it was that they looked like they could be trouble. So they terrorised Israel because they were terrified.This is how the enemy operates. It’s his entire M.O. He is afraid of what’s in you so he tries to see if he could silence you before you discover yourself. He is afraid that you might cause him troubles so he causes you trouble while you are still a child.

He messes with your parents’ marriage so that their divorce becomes your brokenness. You start out with abandonment issues, craving for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. He tries to destroy your hope, your confidence, your courage, your testimony and your witness. This way, you are too defeated and messed up to think that you can amount to anything. But the devil is a skillful liar.

The Enemy Can’t Stop You

Beloved, the devil can’t stop your purpose but he can stop up your life so that you implode and stop your own self. Again, the devil is a liar.

But your God is skilled at taking all the enemy’s strategies and turning them into instruments of HIS power. So even though the enemy meant it for evil, God has a way of turning it around for your good and His glory.

Maybe this is the season that you are “going through it”, may I suggest it is because the enemy is afraid of the next season of your life? Instead of letting it overwhelm you, let it be a sign that there is greatness ahead of you. Don’t let him silence you. Don’t let your past shut you up. Don’t let your brokenness hinder you. Broken pieces can become whole again in the hands of Jesus.

Shalom.