2 Chronicles 30:12 Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.

Genuine unity comes from God. We know from Jesus’ high-priestly prayer (John 17) that unity among God’s people is His desire and design, so we should seek it with assurance. In this particular instance, God directed the king and his officials, and the people had unity in doing what they were told. Often in churches we have people who say, “Well God didn’t tell me that,” and there is a rupture in unity. That’s one of the problems with democratic church government. Of course, the flip side of that is the problem of church leadership that isn’t listening to God. As our Scripture for the Year proclaims, we are indeed all priests and kings (1 Peter 2:9), but God does set shepherds over His flock. (Ephesians 4:11-13) As Paul says, a major purpose of such shepherds is to lead the flock into unity of faith and purpose. The devil hates such unity and will use every trick at his disposal to thwart it, so we’ve got to be on our guard. Every one of the devil’s weapons is a lie, but the flip side of that is that lies are his greatest weapon, because we are so gullible. To maintain unity we have to stand on the truth of God, and thus be set free from the lies of the devil. (John 8:32)

Right now we are involved in a major project, and the devil is coming at me in a full-court press. I can name several missionaries who got involved in real-estate-related projects whose work has seemed to peter out into nothing, and I am being told I’m doing the same thing. However, this wasn’t something I wanted to do in the first place, and I see too many things coming together to not see God’s hand in it. At the same time, I see huge challenges/obstacles, and frankly, I’m tired. One factor is that the Lord has recently brought a brother to join us who has a real burden for evangelism, who called us to account at our called business meeting, saying that if we were doing this project to bring souls into the kingdom of God then we should give it all we’ve got, but if not, we shouldn’t touch it. That brother has just started an outreach on his own to middle school and high school students. I’ve got to keep my focus on God’s kingdom and His righteousness and rest assured that He will supply everything I need, especially for the things He directs me to do. (Matthew 6:33)

Father, I find myself wanting to know better how to submit to You, so that I may better resist the devil and have him flee. It’s no fun to wake up in the middle of the night, under mental attack. Help me trust You fully without being passive, doing faithfully all that You have me do without feeling I have to supply the wisdom or power necessary. As You had me pray in the prayer meeting last night, help me hear and obey You, not leaning on my own understanding, so that You may make Your path straight ahead of us, (Proverbs 3:5-6) for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!