‘TROUBLE WILL NOT COME A SECOND TIME.’ NAHUM 1:9 NIV

Are you afraid your old problems are going to come back again? You told others how God answered your prayer, now the enemy’s trying to get back at you through the ‘spirit of fear’ (2 Timothy 1:7). Satan will try to bring back old issues hoping you’ll rehearse them, begin to worry about them, and end up being ‘trapped by what you said’ (Proverbs 6:2 NIV). Anyone who has been delivered by God has gone through it. Satan has no new tricks. When he counterattacks it often comes through your imagination. Before you know it, what you imagined yesterday you begin to believe today, and become fully convinced of tomorrow. That’s why the Bible instructs us to, ‘Cast down imaginations and take every thought captive’ (See 2 Corinthians 10:5). Take control of your thoughts before they take control of you! Jesus said, ‘According to your faith be it unto you’ (Matthew 9:29). That works negatively as well as positively! You defeat the devil by taking your sword (which is the Word of God) and cutting his head off with it! The Psalmist understood fear: ‘In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done’ (Psalm 118:5-6, 17 NIV). The prophet Habakkuk experienced it too: ‘I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound…yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The sovereign Lord is my strength’ (Habakkuk 3:16, 18-19 NIV). Rejoice, God says, ‘It’s over.’ ‘Trouble will not come a second time.’