Be thankful to God for your enemies

Exodus 23:29-30 (ERV) “But I will not force all of them out of your land quickly. I will not do this in only one year. The land will be empty if I force the people out too fast. Then all the wild animals would increase and control the land. And they would be much trouble for you. So I will force them out of your land very slowly. I will do this as you grow and eventually take the land to be your own.” God cares about every detail of our lives. His desire is to bless us with all the riches in His possession. However, some of these blessings are too huge for an inexperienced person to handle. If God gave you this full blessing at once, you may end up messing it up. That’s why it is necessary that you go through some training in the presence of your enemies. Medical doctors have learnt and implemented this secret by inventing vaccines. Vaccines are inactive organisms that resemble disease causing agents. When injected in one’s body, they increase the body’s immunity by training one’s disease fighting cells. So vaccines may seem enemies to the blood cells but their presence is paramount for the training of these body’s soldiers. In the above scripture, Exodus 23, God’s ultimate goal was to give the Israelites Canaan as a possession but it had inhabitants whom God had to drive out to pave room for His children. God didn’t immediately carry out the eviction of Israel’s enemies because they still had a role to play in the land. Their work was to cultivate the land to prevent bushes from overgrowing which would be homes for wild beasts that would be dangerous to Israel. So dear friend, be thankful to God for the enemies you have, pray for them so that God’s will may be fulfilled. That’s why Philippians 4:4 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always.