We All Need Some of This

Posted on August 24, 2011

By Jamie Futrell

Study military strategy and you will find a re-occurring theme, divide the enemy. Separate them. Isolate them. If you've ever watched a nature episode on the Discovery channel then you have seen how the animals hunt and divide the weakest off from the heard.

Satan, our enemy, wants to do the exact same thing. Separate us. Isolate us. Make a man feel like he is all alone. “No one else at your church would be able to help you with this,” he whispers. “No one else is struggling like you.” And the big lie he whispers to me all the time, “No one else really cares.” Which is just a step away from saying, God doesn’t care.

Even though I know they are all lies, I can’t believe how quickly I will fall for them. I have to “speak” the truth to myself.

But there is still something else we all need. It helps us carry on during battles. We need encouragement. Some of us may not realize how much we need it.

At our recent Men Who Win Advance, several men took the scary risk of sharing their weaknesses and struggles. I call it scary because Satan whispers in our ear, "These men will reject you if you tell them that." That might be true if we shared our struggles with men of the world, but never true when shared with men of God.

Immediately each man received encouragement. We laid hands on each one and prayed for him. Those men left feeling restored and uplifted. They felt stronger. Part of the reason for feeling stronger, they knew they were not alone.

The next day after it was over, one man sent me a text, “May the Lord rock your Spirit today.” At the time I did not know who it was, but it still immediately brought encouragement. I did not feel alone. I knew if I needed someone to cover my back, I had it.

You might be saying, "No one ever encourages me." First, have you let anyone know of your struggles? Have you let another man of God see your weakness? That’s really important. We can't help each other fight the enemy if we don't know how or where the enemy is attacking us through you. Secondly, I would remind all of us of the Galatians 6:7 principle, “You will ALWAYS harvest what you plant.” (NLT) If you want to harvest some encouragement, then go plant some today. I guarantee you will be surprised how many men need to be encouraged.


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