Checkmate!
“Overcoming a bad situation or circumstances is easier when we understand God’s understanding of them.”
You may have been sold a bill of goods that told you, “If you just come to Jesus everything will be warm and fuzzy, and you’ll never have any problems.” But on day one of our new life in Christ, we found out that in this world, there is no escaping difficulties. We will face trials, troubles, and tests that are intended to challenge or prove our faith in God. It is in these light and momentary troubles that the enemy will whisper, “Check.”
When the troubles that Jesus warned us about come (John 14:27-16:33), when in the trials that James and Peter gave instruction on (James 1:2, 1 Peter 1:6), and when we find ourselves like Paul, pressed on every side, (2 Cor. 4:8) it is easy to be pulled into mental reasoning. We are looking for understanding. Gaining understanding depends more on how we meet trouble than on the nature of the trouble. We can understand troubles, trials and tests in three ways.
In Our Own Understanding
Too often and too quickly this is what we are tempted to do. We can deceive ourselves into thinking that we cannot trust anyone to help us figure it out, even God. Just as the “Lone Ranger” would shout “Hi Yo Silver Away” before charging off into the next unknown adventure, we can charge off leaning on our own limited understanding. Leaning means we are putting all our weight on something, like a crutch. It also carries the sense that rest or relief can be found in trusting something or someone other than God. God tells us not to do this!
Proverbs 3:5 NKJV
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
Understanding the Enemy Wants to Give
The enemy, satan will try to bring an understanding to us that is contrary to God and meant for our destruction. Having observed humanity for millennium, he has two methods that have worked well for him against God’s children. They are Fear and Merimnao. Sometimes the enemy only needs to bring fearful thoughts to hamstring many Christians If we do not shut them down hard, fear can move from our head to our heart.
“A bird can fly over your head, but you don’t have to let him build a nest.”
Martin Luther
And the nest or understanding that fear wants to build is downstairs in the heart. When we allow fear into our hearts it invites doubt and unbelief. Doubt will cause us to question what God has said, unbelief will seek satisfaction with our natural thinking. If the enemy’s rook (Fear) doesn’t get a Christian, then he will try the knight (Merimnao). Merimnao is a Greek word that is often translated as to worry, be anxious, or care for. It comes from two Greek words that together mean to “Divide the mind.” Another way of putting it is a “Distracting care.” Whether fear or care, he wants us to think that he has us in the position of “Check.”
Then There Is God’s Understanding
Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Meditating on that verse, many of our trials and troubles that we make into mountains, would be like ant hills that flatten under our feet when we walk by faith, and catch this, think on the LORD’S thoughts of PEACE! This word peace is translated from the Hebrew word “Shalom.” It carries the qualities of Wholeness (1 Thess. 5:23, Colossians 2:9-10), Completeness (Hebrews 10:14, 12:23, James 1:4), Well-being or Healthy (Isa. 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24), Safety (Psalm 91:1-2, Psalm 121:7-8, Prov. 18:10) and Prosperous (Prov. 10:22, Matt. 6:33, 3 John 1:2).
Peace means more than the absence of trouble but the overwhelming presence of God in the troubles, trials, and tests. This peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit working in us, it does not come from the outside, it does not consider natural surroundings. This verse in Jeremiah, along with Jesus telling us that He came to give us a more abundant life (John 10:10) can be encouraging to us. This should convince us that God has our back and that what He has called us to do, we will do.
When I was younger and ignorant of what I was supposed to be doing, I would usually say, “As soon as I can get past this then I will be alright.” But that was worldly thinking, because the “be alright” would only last till the next problem came along. I would feel spiritually paralyzed and hear the enemy shout, “Check.” In my own understanding it was as if I was trying to move the pieces on the chessboard. This only kept me in “Check.” Thankfully, the Lord brought me to His understanding. It was not until I began to read James 1, 1 Peter 1:6,7, and Romans 5:1-4 and by the Spirit of God received revelation that these trials and troubles were for my benefit.
God gives the antidote for our attempting to try and understand in our own thinking, or worse entertaining the enemy’s understanding.
Philippians 4:6 TPT
Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude.
Tell Him every detail of your life, God does not want us to become distracted. He knows that if we become distracted that we can begin to lose hope at the end of the rope. He wants us to understand that He will never leave us. Even when faced with the worst trouble, the Lord has already gone before us and is at the Throne making intercession for us. (Rom. 8:34) That He is working all things together for good. (Rom. 8:28) That greater is He that is in us is greater than he that is the world. (1 John 4:4) No matter how many times the enemy shouts “Check,” God will always make another move on the chessboard.
Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
Philippians 4:7 NLT
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
Staying with His understanding, we will hear Him say, “CHECKMATE!”