SCRIPTURES: Gen. 37:4; 1 Sam[TC1] . 17:1-end; Ps. 20:1-9; 22:20; 31:15-17; 37:18;105:24; 106:32-33; 121:1-8; Is. 50:7-9; 53:7a
CONFESSION
For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Isaiah 50:7
LESSONS
1. The devil doesn’t run after a failure but after a king to bring him down on the way to his home.
2. The people are awaiting your arrival at your destination – so what you see, hear and how you react matter a lot.
3. When attacks come, opposition is rising and critics are busy trying to bring you down, know that your lifting is just too great for them to bear.
4. Opposition should be a ladder and a stepping stone to your greatness.
5. Be focused so that you can outlive your detractors and put them to shame. Silence sometimes may be a weapon.
6. The better your attitude, the more opposition you get.
7. Oppositions make one conscious of how one is passing through each phase in life.
8. Opposition normally starts with critics who are relatives and close associates, past or present (Micah 7:6b)
9. While the earth remains, criticism will never cease.
10. Success in life can’t be truly measured by the position one has attained but by the obstacles and hurdles one’s overcome.
OUTLIVING YOUR CRITICS
1. Total Obedience (Genesis 6:22; 1 Samuel 15:22) Noah outlived his critics by the wisdom of God which he applied. Obedience is not obedience until it is total and complete.
2. Absolute Living Faith (Hebrew 11:6) People come into your life to move you to aspire or expire. Discouragement and criticisms and all kinds of opposition will come just to derail you. But hold on to your faith; you will get there.
3. Complete Reliance and Trust in God (Psalm 125:1) Noah trusted God absolutely and relied on Him. He never listened to the words of men.
4. Do the Word: Whatsoever He says to you, do it (John 2:5). Noah did exactly as God told him. He did not rely on his understanding (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:22-23; Proverbs 3:5).
5. Courage and Boldness (Proverbs 28:1) after the order of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, we must be bold to outlive our critics in the face of opposition.
6. Tough Perseverance (Philippian 3:13-14) you can never rise above your critics if you do not persevere once you are sure that it is God speaking. Keep on holding unto to Him and doing that which He’s given unto you; you’ll get there. They laughed at Noah, but he persevered.
CASE STUDY OF DAVID 1Samuel 17:1-end
1. His Brothers: David, young and inexperienced, was stoutly opposed by his brothers. They erected the first opposition on his path to greatness.
2. Saul: Saul put on him the yoke of his armor (v.38). But David put them off (v.39).
3. Goliath: It could only have been a David to resolutely shrug off the fire- spitting threats and daunting intimidation of satanic Goliath (v.42-44).
PRAYERS
1. Every force, power, agent manipulating my destiny, work, or family through opposition, be paralyzed by fire, in the name of Jesus
2. Evil propaganda, scandal, and campaign against my work, family, and person will not prosper, in Jesus name.
3. O Lord, deliever me from all the expectations of my enemies, in the name of Jesus
4. Those secretly planning for my downfall, be consumed by thunder, in Jesus name.
5. My home, life and work will not suffer setbacks, in Jesus name.
6. I reject the spirit of reduction, in Jesus name
7. I shall not fall into the snares and traps of my enemies, in Jesus name
8. I reject the spirit of had I know, in Jesus name.
9. My life and ministry shall not end up in regrets, in Jesus name.
10. Recite Psalm 20, 24 and 83.
