Know the Land You Walk In

We have to know the nature of the promises God has for our lives, and also the responsibilities, as well as the enemies who want to destroy our lives and prevent God’s blessings for us.

Because the Christian life is not a walk in the park. There is a struggle. The Bible says that the kingdom of heaven advances forcefully, and the valiant take hold of it. So you need to know the nature of that land God sets before you. It is good land, a land flowing with milk and honey. But it is also a land of battles, risks, and demands. Prayer is required, fasting is required, and one must rid oneself of many things.

Some things must be left behind, and we will have to fight battles against enemies who will seek to destroy our souls. Because the devil knows only how to kill, steal, and destroy. He does not want a single person to enter and become firmly established in the ways of the Lord. He is committed to obstructing every inch of ground that you seek to conquer, which God has given you.

That is why it is so important for you to spy out the land, to know your responsibilities and privileges thoroughly, and to know the Word. What are my commitments? What are my rights? How do I begin to make use of my inheritance and of what God has declared over my life?

I believe that is what God wanted to accomplish by sending the Hebrews to explore the land. He wanted them to enter it, survey it carefully, understand its nature, and be clear about what they had to do and what awaited them, so that they would not be surprised by anything negative they encountered on the other side.

But here is something important, and it is this: For us to enter into all the blessing God wants to give us, the most important thing is that we believe God. That we know—yes, there will be war, there will be struggle, there will be difficulties—but God is more powerful than all those things.

Paul says in his letter to the Romans: “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.” There are many things in life that will oppose us; that is true. But Paul also says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors.”

There is nothing wrong with knowing thoroughly the nature of the battle that awaits you in the Christian life—on the contrary, I recommend it. You should know that this world is not a bed of roses, and that the Christian life is a life of difficulties, struggles, and trials. But it is also important for you to know that “in all these things” you can be more than a conqueror, and that everything you go through and all the giants that rise against you, all the dramas, all the difficulties you may experience in your life—all of that is raw material God can use to create a man or a woman filled with the Holy Spirit, prepared for every good work.

God wants to prepare men and women of such mettle that they are not distressed or paralyzed, nor do they feel like dying because of anything in this world. They know that whatever the devil throws at them, they can hit it out of the park for a home run because they are already battle-hardened, already prepared, accustomed to the struggle, and they know that God will always bring them through all their afflictions.

Together with the psalmist, we, the children of God, can say, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD will deliver him from them all.” Know the dangerous land you are walking through, but also know that God is with you to give you every piece of ground on which the soles of your feet tread.